XPO sees huge 3Q revenue growth

XPO posts net loss for quarter, but plans to continue acquisition spree.    The freight brokerage and logistics services provider XPO Logistics reported a net loss of $11.7 million in the third quarter, nearly double the $6 million it lost in the same period in 2013.
   That loss came despite XPO’s revenue growing 241.5 percent, year-over-year, to $662.5 million. The company is now projecting revenue to surpass $3 billion in 2014, aided by significant acquisitions in the intermodal, logistics and last-mile segments; XPO acquired Pacer International, New Breed Logistics, and ACL in 2014 for close to $1 billion.
   “The third quarter was transformational for us on many fronts,” said XPO Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and Brad Jacobs. “We raised $1.2 billion of capital to fund our growth. We generated a net revenue increase of more than 400 percent, reflecting the benefit of acquisitions and 48-percent organic growth. And we turned in our strongest adjusted … performance to date — $24 million — which reflects less than a month of owning New Breed, our largest acquisition so far.
   “We delivered 58-percent organic growth in our freight brokerage business, and more than doubled the revenue run rate of our brokerage cold-starts in 12 months to $250 million,” he continued. “Most important, our entire organization is gelling into one integrated operation with a single-minded focus on customer service.”
   Jacobs said a key step has been the integration of its acquisitions.
   “In September, we gained critical mass when we acquired New Breed,” he said. “Our contract logistics business is off to a great start, ahead of plan in its first month out of the gate. In July, we acquired ACL, which recently had a big e-commerce customer win as part of XPO Last Mile.”
   Jacobs, who has a history of building market leaders in other industries based on an aggressive acquisition strategy, said he expects to continuing making strategic purchases.
   “We’ve built a range of technology-based supply chain services that has grabbed the attention of shippers in North America,” he said. “And we’re currently in discussions with a number of attractive acquisition prospects in a very active pipeline. Our targets are primarily in our existing lines of business, including contract logistics, last mile and freight brokerage.”