ODFL sees Q2 net income jump 4.9%

However, the less-than-truckload carrier experienced the first quarterly year-over-year decline in revenues since the fourth quarter of 2009.    Old Dominion Freight Line’s (ODFL) most recent financial statements revealed its net income for the second quarter of 2016 rose 4.9 percent year-over-year to $81.4 million.
   The Thomasville, N.C.-based less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier’s earnings per share (EPS) totaled $0.98 for the quarter, compared to $1.00 per share for the second quarter of 2015.
   Analysts polled by Thompson Reuters projected ODFL’s EPS to total $0.95 per share on revenues of $751.4 million. However, ODFL’s second quarter revenues, which exceeded Thompson Reuters’ estimates, reached $755.4 million, a 0.9 percent year-over-year increase.
   ODFL Vice Chairman and CEO David S. Congdon said this was the company’s first quarterly year-over-year decline in revenues since the fourth quarter of 2009. Congdon attributed the second quarter revenues decline to reductions in fuel surcharges and non-LTL revenues, along with the sluggish domestic economy.
   “Old Dominion ended the second quarter of 2016 with 17,406 full-time employees, who provided 99 percent on-time service and a cargo claims ratio of 0.28 percent for the quarter,” Congdon said.
   Meanwhile, investment bank and analyst Stifel said, “Old Dominion continues to invest in capacity for growth, but it will not add new volume at any price. While the pricing environment remains stable, allowing for contractual rate increases to basically cover cost increases, industry volumes do not allow for the company to take much market share presently at reasonable prices.”
   Stifel noted it is reducing its EPS estimates to reflect a still-soft freight environment that is not recovering at the pace it had previously anticipated, lowering its estimates for 2016 from $3.59 per share to $3.50 per share, while decreasing its estimates for 2017 from $3.90 per share to $3.80 per share.