J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. reported fourthquarter earnings of $92 million, or 77 cents per diluted share, and ended 2013 with total annual revenue of $5.6 billion.
Earnings reported Thursday by the Lowell-based transportation company for the final three months of 2013 were a record and up 9.5 percent from the same period in 2012. J.B. Hunt just missed analyst estimates of 79 cents per share but enjoyed a strong close to 2013. Earnings per share were up 10 percent from 70 cents per share last year.
J.B. Hunt performed well for the year, eclipsing $5 billion in revenue and reporting operating income of $576.7 million. Revenue was up 10 percent year-over-year and operating income jumped buy 9 percent when comparing 2013 with 2012.
Success came despite the continued struggles of J.B. Hunt’s trucking segment - JBT.
Revenue for JBT fell 19 percent from last year, finishing at $91 million. The trucking segment, which recently announced a management change, lost $1 mil-lion in 2013, compared with a 2012 operating income of $5.2 million.
Shelley Simpson assumed a strategic leadership role of the segment, and Greg Breeden, formerly of Crete Carrier, was hired as senior vice president of JBT marketing and network development.
Steve Rogers transferred from vice president of operations for dedicated contract services into the trucking segment.
J.B. Hunt announced along with the management changes last month that it planned to invest about $130 million in trucking, a recently underperfoming segment.
“The previously announced personnel and leadership changes are expected to address and improve tractor utilization, maintenance and customer service issues that have impact on the profitability of JBT,” the company said.
“We expect to demonstrate operational improvements throughout 2014, but significant financial improvements will become more apparent in 2015.”
Simpson added trucking oversight in addition to her responsibilities as the company’s chief marketing officer and president of the integrated capacity solutions, or ICS, segment.
ICS reported fourth-quarter revenue of $145 million and operating income of $3.5 million.
Revenue was up 13 percent and income down 24 percent, the company reported. Freight mix and customer demand helped ICS revenue growth.
Intermodal continued to be the company’s strongest performing segment with revenue of $915 million, an 11 percent increase from 2012.
Higher freight volume, specifically a 17 percent increase in Eastern network loads and an 11 percent jump in transcontinental loads, helped intermodal growth.
Operating income was up 17 percent to $121.5 million for intermodal.
Revenue at the dedicated contract services segment increased 17 percent and reached $331 million for the final quarter.
J.B. Hunt’s efforts to contract business normally handled by other companies’ private fleets resulted in operating income of $29.5 million, up 0.5 percent from last year.
J.B. Hunt stock closed at $78.49 on Thursday, down 8 cents. It has traded as high as $79.89 over the past 52 weeks.
Business, Pages 27 on 01/24/2014