Schneider profits down in first half 2017 despite Q2 growth

Truckload, intermodal and logistics provider Schneider National reported a net income of $46.5 million for the second quarter of 2017, or $0.27 per diluted share, an increase of 5.2 percent, compared to the three months ended June 30, 2016.    Wisconsin-based truckload, intermodal and logistics services provider Schneider National, Inc. saw its net income grow during second quarter 2017, but fall for the six months that ended June 30, the company revealed Aug. 1.
   Net income for the three months ended June 30, 2017 stood at $46.5 million, or $0.27 on a weighted average diluted per share basis, an increase of $2.3 million (5.2 percent), compared to the same 2016 period, according to the company’s most recent financial statements.
   “We are pleased with our performance in the second quarter and reported overall results that were in line with what we had expected,” Schneider CEO Chris Lofgren said. “Freight market dynamics improved throughout the quarter. Much of what we’ve faced thus far in 2017 stemmed from customer contracts that were negotiated during 2016 and inflationary driver costs that persisted into the second quarter.”
   For the first six months of the year, however, net income fell 4.6 percent year-over-year to $69 million ($0.42 per diluted share) compared with the first half of 2016.
   Lofgren predicted that income would rebound during the second half of the year.
   “In June, indications of improving market conditions began to appear. July is always a challenging month, so we will have a better read by mid-August, but we are cautiously optimistic that the market will see strengthening in the second half of 2017,” he said. “The market improvement, our efforts to increase driver capacity, new Dedicated contracts and our ongoing revenue management work positions us well for the second half of 2017.”