LITTLE ROCK — Officials from Arkansas Best Corp. on Friday said the pricing strength of its trucking business had recovered during the July-through-September period as the Fort Smith holding company reported a third-quarter profit.
The owner of ABF Freight System Inc. said the month of July particularly helped the corporation’s bottom line.
In a call with analysts Friday, officials cited as factors in the company’s strong quarterly performance a general rate increase among customers of its trucking subsidiary and an increase in year-over year tonnage, both in July.
Tonnage for the rest of the period fell in the year-over year comparison, resulting in an overall average decline of 2 percent during the quarter.
“I feel like when we look at our book of business, we’re in good shape,” Judy McReynolds, president and chief executive officer of Arkansas Best, said during the call.
Arkansas Best reported net income of $12.27 million, or 46 cents per share, for the quarter that ended Sept. 30, compared with a net loss of $749,000, or 3 cents per share, for the third quarter in 2010.
The company beat the average earnings estimate of 31 cents per share from a Thomson Reuters survey of 19 analysts.
Arkansas Best posted revenue of $510.89 million for the quarter that ended Sept. 30, a 15 percent increase compared with $445.53 million for the same quarter a year ago.
Less-than-truckload carriers such as ABF haul shipments that combine freight from multiple customers in each trailer and post revenue in terms of hundredweight, or 100-pound increments.
ABF Freight System reported hauling 858,048 tons of freight in the first quarter, a 2 percent decrease compared with 875,156 tons reported in the same year-ago period.
However, Arkansas Best reported receiving an average $27.10 per hundredweight in the third quarter, a 16 percent increase compared with $23.38 per hundredweight reported in the third quarter of 2010.
When asked by financial analysts, McReynolds did not directly acknowledge whether ABF Freight System would trade off freight volume for higher-price freight in the future.
Instead, she said the company had been very good at maintaining the number of employees to match shipment levels. McReynolds said adjusting worker hours to shipments was the biggest cost-cutting lever the corporation has to pull.
Arkansas Best Corp. shares fell 25 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $20.60 per share Friday on the Nasdaq. Its shares have traded as high as $29.08 and as low as $14.22 over the past year.
Business, Pages 33 on 10/29/2011