LITTLE ROCK — USA Truck Inc. on Monday reported a fourth-quarter net loss that was larger than the one it reported a year ago. The Van Buren based company blamed its performance on challenges related to pricing and load volume.
After the stock markets closed, the company reported a net loss of $4.4 million, or 42 cents a share, for the quarter that ended Dec. 31, compared with a net loss of $1.8 million, or 17 cents a share, for the quarter that ended Dec. 31, 2010.
The reported loss was double the average net loss estimate of 21 cents per share from five analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.
USA Truck said its fourth quarter revenue was $126.2 million, a 3 percent gain compared with revenue of$122.1 million from the same period a year ago.
“We simply did not make the necessary progress on load volume or pricing during the quarter,” Cliff Beckham, USA’s president and chief executive officer, said in a news release.
The company reported operating an average 2,235 trucks during the quarter. A weekly average of 1,754 miles were driven by each truck in the fourth quarter of 2011 - a 13 percent decrease compared with the fourth quarter of 2010.
USA Truck’s weekly base trucking revenue declined 9 percent to an average $2,742 inthe 2011 fourth quarter, compared with $2,952 in 2010.
Profitability problems stemming from a third quarter transition to a new software system caused the loss of some of the company’s highest-paying loads, the company said.
“Compounding this situation, we phased out service on two major accounts,” USA Truck said in the news release. “Replacing approximately 6.2 percent of our loads in one quarter has depressed our utilization and our rate structure while we replace the freight.”
USA Truck said future performance will be improved through changes including the hiring of experienced employees in key positions such as customer service, load planning and driver recruiting; along with cost-saving moves and other internal changes.
Jack Waldo, a transportation equity analyst with Stephens Inc., declined to comment on USA Truck’s performance.
The company also reported year-end results including a net loss of $10.8 million, or $1.05 per share, compared with a net loss of $3.3 million, or 32 cents per share, for 2010.
The trucking company posted revenue of $519.4 million in 2011, a 13 percent increase compared with $460.2 million in 2010.
Shares of USA Truck rose 25 cents, or 2.88 percent, to $8.94 per share Monday on the Nasdaq exchange, prior to the earnings release. Its shares have traded as high as $13.49 and as low as $6.75 over the past year.
Business, Pages 23 on 02/07/2012