YELLOW CORP. SEES RECORD 2000 EARNINGS DESPITE 4TH-QUARTER DIP

YELLOW CORP. SEES RECORD 2000 EARNINGS DESPITE 4TH-QUARTER DIP    Despite a 16.2-percent dip in fourth-quarter net income, Yellow Corp. reported record results in 2000.
   The Overland Park, Kan.-based company's fourth-quarter net income was $14.5 million, compared with $17.3 million for the year-earlier period, before unusual items. Revenue was up slightly to $883.0 million, while operating income rose 6.5 percent to $41.1 million.
   For the year, net income jumped 33.6 percent to $68.0 million, on revenue of $3.6 billion, up 12.5 percent. Operating income rose 30 percent to $140.4 million, also a record.
   'The fact that we turned in these results during a period of rising fuel prices, late-year economic slowdown and severe winter weather in the fourth quarter shows that we are succeeding in transforming Yellow into a transportation services company that can better manage the risks that our industry has struggled with in the past,' said Bill Zollars, Yellow Corp.'s chairman, president and chief executive officer.
   Unusual items for the fourth quarter included $2.7 million for the integration of regional carriers WestEx and Action Express with Saia, as well as $1.3 million, after-tax, to settle liabilities associated with the 1999 bankruptcy of Preston Trucking Co. Unusual items for 2000 included an after-tax net gain of $8.7 million from the sale or real estate in Manhattan, N.Y.
   Yellow Freight Corp., the company's largest subsidiary, saw fourth-quarter operating income rise 36 percent to $37.6 million, while revenue rose slightly to $685.6 million.
   For the year, Yellow Freight's operating income was $128.3 million before unusual items, up 50.3 percent. Revenue was $2.8 billion, up 6.4 percent.
   Saia Motor Freight Line saw operating income of $4.5 million on revenue of $90.8 million in the fourth quarter, both increases. Operating income for the year was $16.5 million, down slightly, on revenue of $366.8 million.
   WestEx and Action Express, which are being integrated with Saia, combined for a loss of $3.5 million in the fourth quarter, and an operating loss of $4.7 million for the year.
   Jevic reported fourth-quarter operating income of $4.5 million, down 19.6 percent from the year-earlier period, on revenue of $77.0 million, up 3.4 percent. Jevic, which was acquired July 1999, reported full-year revenue of $307 million and operating income of $14.3 million, compared with 1999 revenue of $277 million and operating income of $20.7 million.
   Yellow continued the roll-out of Transportation.com, its Web-based services designed to serve small and medium-sized shippers and carriers. The company said Transportation.com had more than 6,000 customers at the end of 2000. Yellow incurred a $1.1-million after-tax loss pertaining to ongoing business development expenses for Transportation.com. For the year, tax development expenses were $4.2 million.