Heartland Express, Inc. (HTLD), a provider of short-to medium haul truckload carrier services, Wednesday said its first-quarter net income declined from the same quarter a year ago, hurt by a decrease in freight demands.
Liberty, Iowa-based Heartland Express' net income for the first quarter declined to $14.441 million from $14.663 million in the same quarter last year. On a per share basis, first-quarter earnings were $0.15, flat with the first quarter of last year.
On average, fourteen analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected first-quarter earnings of $0.12 per share. Analysts' estimate typically excludes special items such as one-time charges or gains.
Operating income for the first quarter declined to $19.040 million from $19.759 million in the same quarter a year ago despite a decline in total operating expenses.
Operating revenues for the first quarter declined 22.8% to $115.0 million from $149.0 million in the same quarter a year ago, hurt by a decline in fuel surcharge revenue as well as lower miles driven by lower load counts. Revenues for the first quarter were below the analysts' view of $130.17 million.
Total operating expenses for the first quarter, however, declined to $95.939 million from $129.290 million in the corresponding quarter last year, primarily helped by a decline in fuel expenses. Expenses on fuel declined 51.4% to $24.558 million from $50.499 million in the same quarter last year, helped by a decline in average fuel cost rates and by less miles driven. The average cost of fuel for the first quarter came in at $2.18 per gallon, down from $3.52 per gallon in the same period last year.
The company said the excess capacity in the market together with declines in overall freight demand continued to place extreme pressure on freight rates throughout the quarter and did not find any strong indicators of improvements in the demand for freight services that would affect the levels of business in the near future.
Heartland Express also said it will continue to focus on controlling fuel costs as well as all other operating expenses and would also explore other cost saving opportunities and operating efficiencies to make it better prepared for an economic recovery.
HTLD closed Wednesday's trading at $15.17, down $0.42 or 2.69%, on a volume of 1.078 million shares on the Nasdaq.
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