Network expansion boosts Descartes’ Q2 earnings

The logistics software provider saw profits rise 18 percent year-over-year thanks to a 17 percent jump in revenues.    Descartes Systems Group saw its net income jump 18 percent to $8.5 million in the second quarter of its fiscal 2019 year, which ended July 31, according to the company’s most recent financial statements.
   The Waterloo, Ontario-based global logistics software provider posted diluted earnings per share of $0.11, up from $0.09 per share during the same three-month period last year, as revenues rose 17 percent to $67.1 million.
   Descartes closed on several acquisitions during its fiscal 2018 year, and is showing no signs of slowing on the M&A front.
   Most notably, the company purchased transportation visibility provider MacroPoint for $107 million in August 2017, as well as PCSTrac in June 2017 and ShipRush in May 2017.
   Then in March 2018, Descartes acquired Aljex Software for $32.4 million and followed that up with the purchase of certain assets of Velocity Mail for $26.1 million in June and PinPoint GPS Solutions for $11.5 million in August.
   “Our business continues to grow as we add solutions that deliver value to our customers in a complex logistics environment,” Descartes CEO Edward J. Ryan said of the results. “Since the end of our first quarter, we’ve added both the Velocity Mail and PinPoint businesses into our Global Logistics Network (GLN). We continue to operate our business so that we can help our customers by investing in more solutions and connecting more parties to the GLN.”
   Descartes’ earnings have now grown 11 percent to $15.5 million ($0.20 per diluted share) through the first half of its fiscal 2019 year, thanks in large part to a 20 percent increase in revenues to $134.1 million compared with the first six months of fiscal 2018.