Expeditors 4th quarter profit up 11%

Expeditors 4th quarter profit up 11%

Rose

   Expeditors International of Washington Inc. said it had fourth quarter profit of $77.7 million an 11 percent increase from $70.1 million for the same quarter of 2007.
   Revenue for the quarter was $1.31 billion down from $1.45 billion in the same period the prior year.
   For the entire year, the company had net profit of $301 million compared to $269 million in 2007, a 12 percent increase.
   Full-year revenue was $5.63 billion, compared to $5.24 billion in 2007.
   “Given the incessant tales of woe emanating from Wall Street these days, we hope the consistency and stability projected by these results will be reassuring to our employees, to our customers and to our shareholders.” said Peter J. Rose, chairman and chief executive officer of the Seattle-based company.
   He said the company increased productivity through ongoing process improvement initiatives, reduced discretionary spending, and was increasingly selective with service provider allocations.
   “We also expanded market share through aggressively focusing on new products, like sea-air, new customers and new market vertical opportunities,” Rose said.
   “Looking forward to 2009, we definitely understand that we have our work cut out for us,” Rose said, adding that the company had a strong balance sheet with no debt and nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars in cash.