Frozen Food Express Announces Quarterly Profit
Nov 2, 2001 12:00 PM, Gary Macklin
Frozen Food Express announced an increased profit on lower revenue for the third quarter. It is the second consecutive quarter of profit this year. Revenue for the quarter was $98,129,000, down from $101,402,000 for the third quarter of 2000. FFE earned $157,000, one cent per share, up from a loss of $1.469 million, nine cents per share for the same quarter of the previous year.Total revenue for the third quarter of 2001 was down compared to 2000, but revenue from freight transportation was higher than in 2000. Freight revenue accounted for 86% of 2001 revenue compared to only 81% in the third quarter 2000. Non-freight revenue was down in the previous year, because FFE’s trailer and refrigeration unit dealerships have suffered from reduced demand for equipment.
Although freight revenue is higher, company productivity is down. The fleet is roughly 7% larger than it was during the third quarter 2000, but freight revenue from the larger fleet is only 2% higher. In particular, demand for LTL service is down. Stagnant rates, higher costs, and lower freight demand all contributed to lower productivity. The company still shows a loss for the year of $719,000, but it is smaller than the $1,279,000 loss in 2000.
