Radiant Logistics navigating downside of freight cycle

3PL will re-leverage balance sheet to fund acquisitions, repurchase stock

Shares of RLGT were off 1% in after-hours trading on Monday after closing the day up 2%. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

Renton, Washington-based 3PL Radiant Logistics beat analysts’ expectations for its fiscal first quarter ended Sept. 30.

Radiant (NYSE: RLGT) reported adjusted earnings per share of 9 cents for the period. The result was a penny ahead of the consensus estimate but 7 cents lower year over year. A $1.3 million charge, or 2 cents per share, was incurred in bad debt expense tied to the bankruptcy of auto parts manufacturer First Brands.

Consolidated revenue of $227 million was up 11% y/y and $20 million ahead of the consensus estimate. Incremental revenue generated from recent acquisitions was only partially offset by a soft freight market.

Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $6.8 million was 28% lower y/y. An 11.4% adjusted EBITDA margin was 500 basis points lower. (The adjusted EBITDA margin would have been 13.7% without the bad debt expense.)

Table: Radiant’s key performance indicators

The company outlined a longer-term revenue opportunity from expanded customer adoption of Navegate, a proprietary global trade management platform. It said the offering, which aggregates and organizes supply-chain data, provides customers with improved routing and capacity purchasing tools while reducing costs.

(Radiant acquired Navegate in 2021.)

“We believe this speed to market and ease of deployment represent a clear competitive advantage and that Navegate will serve as a meaningful catalyst for organic growth as we introduce the technology to our current and prospective customers in coming quarters,” said Founder and CEO Bohn Crain in a news release.

Radiant ended the quarter with $2 million in net debt. The bulk of its $200 million credit facility remains untapped. It will use cash generated from operations and the credit revolver to fund additional share repurchases and acquisitions, including converting third-party agent stations into company-owned operations.

Shares of RLGT were off 1% in after-hours trading on Monday after closing the day up 2%.

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Todd Maiden

Based in Richmond, VA, Todd is the finance editor at FreightWaves. Prior to joining FreightWaves, he covered the TLs, LTLs, railroads and brokers for RBC Capital Markets and BB&T Capital Markets. Todd began his career in banking and finance before moving over to transportation equity research where he provided stock recommendations for publicly traded transportation companies.