Expeditors posts drop in earnings, revenues amid higher volumes

Jeffrey S. Musser, the president and chief executive officer of Expeditors International, said the company shipped record volumes in both air and ocean freight during the quarter.    Global logistics company Expeditors International reported net earnings attributable to shareholders of $108 million for the third quarter of 2016, a 9 percent decline from the third quarter of 2015.
   Diluted earnings attributable to shareholders per share totaled $0.59, while revenues fell 5 percent year-over-year to $1.6 billion.
   However, airfreight tonnage increased 7 percent from the third quarter of 2015, while ocean container volumes rose 3 percent.
   “Typically, as in the most recent quarter, rates compress when volumes increase,” Expeditors President and CEO Jeffrey S. Musser said. “In the year-ago third quarter, however, we grew volumes at the same time that our airfreight net revenue per ton was the highest in the company’s history. By comparison, in the most recent quarter of modest marketplace growth in volumes and a further slowdown in global trade, we shipped record volumes in both air and ocean.”
   Based out of Seattle, Expeditors provides a variety of services, including the consolidation or forwarding of air and ocean freight, customs brokerage, vendor consolidation, cargo insurance, time-definite transportation, order management, warehousing distribution and customized logistics solutions.