Vitran reports second-quarter results

TORONTO (Aug. 2, 2000) — Vitran Corp., a regional less-than-truckload specialist with operations in Canada and the United States, reported an 8% rise in second-quarter revenues to $130.2 million over the same period in 1999 but a drop in net income to $3.4 million, or 35 cents a share.

EBITDA of $10.6 million in second quarter was a record, but also was slightly ahead of last year.

For the second quarter, revenue for Vitran’s LTL operations jumped 11.1% over the same period in 1999, to $95 million. LTL shipments increased 10.4%, LTL tonnage increased 8.9%, and the company reported an improvement in yield of 2.1%. Vitran said it hopes to address rising operating costs with a 5.9% price increase for its U.S. LTL business, effective Aug. 28, 2000.

A shortage of owner-operators hurt truckload operations, where revenues were 6.6% lower and the operating ratio declined from 93.3% to 95.1%.