Pacer reports ‘much improved’ quarter

   The transportation and logistics firm Pacer International said it had a profit of $2.2 million in the fourth quarter ending Dec. 31, compared to $1.1 million in the same 2011 period.
   Revenue in the fourth quarter was $351.9 million, down from $358 million a year earlier.
   Intermodal revenues in the quarter were $296.9 million, $7.2 million, or 2.5 percent, more than in the same 2011 period. Logistics revenues were $57.3 million, a decline of $11 million, or 16.1 percent, from the fourth quarter of 2011.
   “The quarter was much improved from the previous three as we were focused on improving under-performing traffic corridors and reducing controllable costs to help offset rising external purchased transportation costs,” said Daniel W. Avramovich, chairman and chief executive officer, in a statement.
   “We are also excited about the new opportunities created by our new cross-border auto agreement with the Union Pacific. We will pursue automotive parts shipments as a retail provider of door-to-door intermodal services and continue the development of our east-west intermodal business to grow our intermodal segment,” he said. 
   For the full year, Pacer had a profit of $4.3 million, compared to $13.9 million in 2011. Revenue was $1.415 billion in 2012, compared to $1.479 billion in 2011. – Chris Dupin