EGL sees slight dip in third-quarter net income

EGL sees slight dip in third-quarter net income    EGL Inc., the transportation and supply chain management company operating under the name EGL Eagle Global Logistics, Tuesday reported third-quarter net income dipped 3.3 percent to $5.6 million.
   Revenues improved 15 percent to $539.3 million for the quarter ended Sept. 30. Ocean revenues increased 32 percent, while revenues from logistics and other areas improved 31 percent. Gross revenues outside the United States improved 20 percent.
   Net revenues rose 7 percent to $183.8 million. Operating income slipped 3.6 percent to $11.3 million.
   EGL's third-quarter performance 'was impacted by airline price increases out of Asia that were not matched with corresponding price increases to our customers due to weak air freight demand,' said Jim Crane, chief executive officer. 'The slow start to the traditionally strong August-September period of U.S. imports offset continued growth of North America deferred ground volumes and improvements from the logistics projects in Europe.'
   Third-quarter results were also negatively impacted $2.3 million due to a settlement of a 2001 dispute with Kitty Hawk Inc., a wholesale transportation provider.
   EGL continued to shift its North America ground volumes from priority to deferred shipments, as priority volumes declined 9 percent while deferred volumes rose 9 percent. Gross revenues
   For the first nine months of 2003, net income jumped to $14.8 million from $2.8 million. Gross revenues increased 16 percent to $1.55 billion, net revenues rose 10 percent to $536.9 million and operating income rose to $28.2 million from $18.0 million.
   For the fourth quarter, EGL expects earnings to be 18 to 20 cents per share, compared to 14 cents per share in the year-earlier quarter. For 2003, EGL expects earnings of 49 to 51 cents per share compared to 20 cents per share in 2002.
   Houston based EGL's services include air and ocean freight, forwarding, customs brokerage, warehousing, trade facilitation, integrated logistics and supply chain management services.