UTi 1st quarter profit down, revenue up

UTi 1st quarter profit down, revenue up UTi Worldwide Inc. said it had profit of $13.5 million in its fiscal first quarter ending April 30, compared to $18.1 million in the same period a year earlier.
   Revenues increased 26 percent to $1.19 billion from $945 million.
   “Revenues continued to outpace the market primarily due to solid organic growth,” said Roger I. MacFarlane, chief executive officer. “Volumes in our freight forwarding operations were strong and we continued to add new logistics business.”
   He said the company has gained market share in a “tough economic environment.”
   He expected to continue that trend in the remainder of its current fiscal year, but said, “A protracted economic downturn could impede our anticipated growth. As expected, all actions under our cost reduction plan were initiated by the end of the first quarter. While we are already seeing some benefits from these actions the majority of anticipated improvement is still expected in the second half” of its current fiscal year.
   He revealed that the company has incurred $2.5 million in costs because of the U.S. Justice Department’s publicly announced investigation into the pricing practices of the international freight forwarding and cargo transportation industry and other related investigations and lawsuits.