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C.H. Robinson reports 11.6% rise in profits

The company’s trucking business benefited in the third quarter from its Jan. 1 acquisition of Freightquote.com, according to C.H. Robinson’s most recent financial statements.

   C.H. Robinson said in the third quarter ending Sept. 30 it had a profit of $139.4 million, 11.6 percent more than the $125 million earned in the same 2014 period.
   Total revenues for the third quarter of 2015 quarter were $3.4 billion, down 1.4 percent from the same 2014 period. Total net revenues were $588.6 million in the third quarter this year, up 11.6 percent from $527.6 million from the third quarter of 2014.
   John Wiehoff, chief executive officer, said the company was “able to continue to take market share in the third quarter while maintaining discipline and focus on our customer service and efficiency initiatives.”
   Truckload net revenues increased 10.8 percent in the third quarter of 2015 compared to the third quarter of 2014. Organic truckload net revenues increased approximately eight percent in the third quarter of 2015 compared to the third quarter of 2014.
   The company said its acquisition of Freightquote.com on Jan. 1, 2015 contributed approximately three percentage points to its truckload net revenue growth in the third quarter of 2015.
   Less-than-truckload (LTL) net revenues increased 38.6 percent in the third quarter of 2015 compared to the third quarter of 2014. Freightquote contributed approximately 33 percentage points to C.H. Robinson’s LTL net revenue growth in the third quarter of 2015.
   The company said its intermodal net revenues decreased 4.0 percent in the third quarter of 2015 compared to the third quarter of 2014, notwithstanding the increase in intermodal net revenues attributed to Freightquote.
   “Conversion to truckload from intermodal negatively impacted intermodal volumes and net revenues in the third quarter of 2015,” C.H. Robinson explained.
   The company’s ocean transportation net revenues increased 1.6 percent in the third quarter of 2015 compared to the third quarter of 2014. The increase in net revenues was primarily due to increased net revenue margin and a small volume increase.
   Air transportation net revenues decreased 1.3 percent in the third quarter of 2015 compared to the third quarter of 2014, and the company attributed the decrease primarily to lower rates, which were partially offset by increased net revenue margin and an increase in volumes.
   Customs net revenues increased 8.1 percent in the third quarter of 2015 compared to the third quarter of 2014. The increase was due to higher transaction volumes.
   Revenues from other logistics services, which includes managed services, warehousing, and small parcel, increased 7.3 percent in the third quarter of 2015 compared to the third quarter of 2014 primarily thanks to growth in managed services. Freightquote contributed approximately two percentage points to other logistics services net revenue growth in the third quarter of 2015.
   Sourcing net revenues decreased 4.4 percent in the third quarter of 2015 compared to the third quarter of 2014.

Chris Dupin

Chris Dupin has written about trade and transportation and other business subjects for a variety of publications before joining American Shipper and Freightwaves.