Expeditors goes from strength to strength
The phrase “I have no weaknesses, I have only varying degrees of strength” may have originated as a joke, but the concept certainly applies to US-based forwarder Expeditors International, which reported first-quarter 2015 net income up 27.3% y-o-y to $107 million, as net revenue increased 14.0% to $529 million. Operating income for the quarter was up 24.9% to $169 million.
Airfreight tonnage was up 13% over 1Q14, and airfreight net revenue rose 18.4% to $194 million. Given the backlogs at US West coast ports, the increase in airfreight volumes may not be surprising, but Expeditors reported almost identical increases for its ocean freight forwarding activities – volume up 12% and net revenue up 18.1%!
Net revenue from customs brokerage (the company’s most profitable reporting segment) was up 8.2% to $215 million.
These big increases are particularly impressive because they do not come against a soft comparison quarter. In 1Q14 the company reported solid growth in all financial and operating categories – not as spectacular as in the 2015 quarter, but definitely strong.
