Summary
A FedEx delivery truck in San Francisco. Photographer: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images FedEx Freight Holding Co. offered mixed results in its first earni…
What this means for you
FedEx Freight's first earnings report after its spinoff shows revenue growth of 9.2% to $3.3 billion, but adjusted earnings per share fell 24% to $2.15. The company now pays its former parent about $9 million per month for technology during the transition, which is weighing on profits. While the outlook projects revenue of around $2.3 billion in the final quarter, adjusted earnings per share are expected to range from 65 to 75 cents, down from $1.27 last year. These changes reflect the challenges of operating independently after being separated from the larger FedEx Corp. structure.
A FedEx delivery truck in San Francisco. Photographer: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
FedEx Freight Holding Co. offered mixed results in its first earnings report, pointing to transitional bumps as the company, the largest carrier of its kind in North America, learns to stand on its own.
Revenue was $3.3 billion in the four months ending in September, it reported on October 29, an increase of 9.2% over the same period last year. Adjusted earnings per share decreased by 24% to $2.15 in the period.
FedEx Freight, which was spun off from FedEx Corp. in June, will report earnings in three-month periods going forward.
The company’s shares gained less than 1% in postmarket trading on October 29. They’d dropped 27% year to date through that day’s close.
Revenue got a boost from new pricing power that the company didn’t have when it was under the umbrella of the parcel giant. “We were tied to the mother ship on pricing decisions,” John Smith, chief executive officer of FedEx Freight, said in an interview. “Now we are on our own and we’re able to make sure that we’re getting paid for what we do.”
Some technological ties to the parent company remain, however, driving up capital spending and weighing on profits. The freight company pays FedEx Corp. an average of $9 million per month for technology through transition service agreements, Smith said. The spinoff is speeding up its tech spend in order to have its own systems soon.
The company’s outlook for the final quarter of the year projects revenue of around $2.3 billion, compared with $2 billion in the same quarter last year. It also sees adjusted earnings per share in the range of 65 cents to 75 cents, compared with $1.27 per share in last year’s fourth quarter.
Even as the truck market is being pressured by high fuel prices, FedEx Freight is seeing some improvements following a yearslong freight recession.
“We have the ability with the leverage in this company to compete in a down market, to take share in a flat market and in a good market,” Smith said.
Source: SupplyChainBrain
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