Werner profits stall due to ‘challenging’ market in 2016

The truckload transportation and logistics provider’s net income for the year tumbled 36 percent to $79.1 million compared with 2015 as revenues slipped 4 percent to just over $2 billion, according to the company’s most recent financial statements.    Werner Enterprises saw its profits tumble 36 percent to $79.1 million for the full year in 2016 compared to the previous year, according to the company’s most recent unaudited financial statements.
   The Omaha, Neb.-based transportation and logistics provider’s diluted earnings per share (EPS) fell from $1.71 in 2015 to $1.09 per diluted share in 2016.
   Werner attributed the sluggish results to a “challenging freight and rate year for our truckload and logistics business segments.”
   Total revenues for the year slipped 4 percent year-over-year to just over $2 billion.
   Operating income in Werner’s truckload (TL) transportation services segment dropped 4 percent from 2015 to $107.7 million, while the company’s logistics division saw operating income jump 23 percent to $20.7 million. TL revenues fell 7 percent year-over-year to $1.53 billion, while logistics revenues rose 6 percent to $417.2 million.
   The company achieved an operating ratio of 92.2 percent in the TL segment, a 5.5 percentage point increase from the previous year, and 95 percent in the logistics segment, a 0.7 percentage point reduction from the full year in 2015.
   “Our financial position remains strong,” the company said. “As of December 31, 2016, we had $180.0 million of debt outstanding and $994.8 million of stockholders’ equity.”