ALDERSYDE, Alta. (April 23, 2004) — Fuelled by its oilfield services division, Mullen Transportation Inc. announced a profit increase of 82 per cent to $22.8 million.

Mullen’s earnings for the period ended March 31 came to $1.53 per share. That compared to earnings of $12.5 million, or 84 cents per share. Sales hit a record of $159.5 million, up 27 per cent from last year’s sales of $125.8 million.

The increase in revenue was due to the company’s oilfield services division, “which benefited from a combination of high levels of oil and gas drilling activity, capital investment in oil sands projects and from incremental new revenues generated by previously announced acquisitions,” the company said.

However, revenues were down in the company’s trucking segment, which was blamed on the continued weakness in the demand for trucking services in eastern Canada and the closing of Mullen’s U.S.-based operations.

Meanwhile, TransForce announced a 40 per-cent profit gain; as revenue was up 24 per cent after recent acquisitions of Transport S.A.S. of Drummondville, Que. and Transport George Lacaille Ltd., based in Carignan, Que. Last summer TransForce completed a blockbuster deal by acquiring Canadian Freightways at auction for $69.6 million.

Vitran also announced a first quarter net income that was up 16.4 per cent to US$1.6 million.