TORONTO — Vitran Corporation released first quarter financial results for 2008, which noted an improvement from 2007 numbers.

Vitran reported net income of $1.1 million and a 15 percent increase in revenue to $177.5 million for the quarter. In the comparable 2007 three-month period, the company achieved net income of $3.4 million and revenue of $154.1 million.

Despite the increase in revenue, the transportation and logistics firm is confident the growth could have been larger and is working towards improving on the first quarter of 2008.

“Downward pressure on Vitran’s margins continued during the first quarter of 2008, as the weak economic environment continued to weigh on our bottom-line profitability,” stated Vitran president and CEO Rick Gaetz. “Internal integration initiatives at the company are proceeding, including the U.S. operating system transition, which is imminent. The integration has been a Company-wide distraction, which has negatively impacted recent quarterly operating results.”

Income from operations at Vitran’s LTL segment were $2.1 million in the first quarter of 2008, which was accompanied by revenue of $149.4 million.

Income from operations rose 63.6 percent at Vitran’s Logistics segment in the 2008 first quarter to $720,000. As well the Truckload segment achieved income from operations of $379,000 in the first quarter, compared to $295,000 in 2007.

“Notwithstanding these issues we faced during the quarter, it is worth noting that in addition to our overall revenue increase, Vitran achieved a daily tonnage improvement of 3.1 percent during the period, and our cross-border revenue grew 51 percent,” concluded Gaetz.