Expeditors’ 2nd-quarter profits up 53% but share price plummets

Expeditors’ 2nd-quarter profits up 53% but share price plummets    The share price of global logistics company, Expeditors International of Washington Inc. slumped by 10.8 percent, despite a second quarter net earnings increase of 53 percent to $56.3 million, from $36.7 million a year ago.
   The 25 cents per share earnings fell short of market expectations as Expeditors’ share price lost $4.91 to close Wednesday at $40.56 on the NASDAQ stock exchange. Analysts on average had expected earnings per share of 26 cents, Reuters said.
   The Seattle, Wash.-based company’s operating income in the latest quarter improved 51 percent to $88.8 million, compared to $58.7 million in the same period 2005.
   Revenue was up 22 percent to $1.13 billion from $928 million, with air freight revenue up 29 percent to $545.3 million; ocean freight and ocean services revenue up 13 percent to $380.3 million; and revenue from customs brokerage and other services improving 20 percent to $203.8 million.
   “The second quarter of 2006 was strong across the board,” said Peter J. Rose, chairman and chief executive officer of Expeditors. “We remain encouraged by the degree that our operation productivity and efficiency initiatives continue to allow us to increase business volumes without a commensurate increase in operating costs.
   “We were also pleased to see our fee-based ocean products — order management and ocean forwarding — making year-over-year gains – this is something we haven’t seen in quite some time,” Rose added.
   For the six months ended June 30, Expeditors’ net earnings rose 60 percent to $108.7 million, from $67.8 million in the first half of 2005. Operating income also increased 60 percent to $174.2 million, with revenue up 23 percent to $2.15 billion.