YRC posts net loss
BOSTON (Reuters) - YRC Worldwide Inc (YRCW.O: Quote, Profile, Research), the biggest U.S. trucking company, posted a quarterly loss on Monday due to hefty one-time charges and said the weak U.S. economy was not likely to improve in the near term.
The company’s results were far worse than analysts had expected, and YRC shares fell as much as 18 percent in early trading.
“We expect the first quarter to also be difficult, given it is seasonally the softest, and we don’t anticipate the economy improving in the near term,” Chairman and Chief Executive Bill Zollars said in a statement.
Conditions have been tough for U.S. trucking companies since the third quarter of 2006. Falling auto sales, lackluster retail sales and a slumping housing market have all choked off demand for trucking services.
YRC posted a fourth-quarter net loss of $735.8 million, or $12.99 per share, compared with a profit of $46.5 million, or 80 cents a share, a year earlier.
One-time items included $12.88 per share of impairment charges, 9 cents per share of reorganization charges, 11 cents per share of technology charges, and 8 cents per share of gains related to property disposals. Most of the charges related to two companies YRC bought in 2003. The company disclosed its plans for these charges on January 2.
Excluding one-time items, YRC earned 1 cent per share. On that basis, analysts had expected 53 cents per share, according to Reuters Estimates.
Revenue at the Overland Park, Kansas-based company came to $2.35 billion, down 2.4 percent from a year earlier.
YRC shares were down $2.17 to $16.69 on the Nasdaq after falling as low as $15.50 earlier. The shares, which lost more than half their value last year, had climbed 10 percent this year as of Friday’s close. Continued…
Tags: Auto, Auto Sales, economy, reuters, roper
