Expeditors International of Washington Inc.'s (EXPD)
fourth-quarter earnings fell 3.8% as the global logistics company
was hurt by lower airfreight volume.
The company provides services including air and ocean freight
forwarding, customs clearance and marine insurance. A number of
freight carriers--such as FedEx Corp. (FDX) and United Parcel
Service Inc. (UPS)-- have reduced capacity or shifted aircraft to
other markets because demand from Asia has softened as companies
run down their inventories.
Chairman and Chief Executive Peter J. Rose said Expeditors
International would like to have seen stronger freight volumes as
the customary real peak season surge never materialized--leading to
irregular demand throughout the quarter.
In the latest period, the company's air freight services
business, the largest contributor to the top line, reported revenue
declined 9.3% while airfreight volume declined 10%. Ocean freight
and ocean services, its second largest segment by that measure, saw
revenue drop 8.3%, though ocean freight volume was up 3%.
"While 2011 was a record year, and we are generally optimistic
about 2012, the underlying flow of goods both in the global economy
and throughout our network in January still give us some cause to
reiterate" concerns about global trends, Rose said.
Expeditors reported a profit of $92.8 million, or 43 cents a
share, down from $96.5 million, or 45 cents a share, a year
earlier. Revenue decreased 5.1% to $1.5 billion.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters most recently projected
earnings of 47 cents on revenue of $1.59 billion.
Operating margin rose to 10.3% from 9.4%.
Shares were down 1.2% at $43.80 in early trading. The stock
through Friday's closed is down 20% in the past year. Markets were
closed Monday for the Presidents' Day holiday.
-By Tess Stynes, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2481; Tess.Stynes@dowjones.com