Central Freight Line Inc., Waco, Texas, announced its financial and operating results for the quarter and six months ended July 2, 2005.

Central's operating revenue was $99.5 million, compared to operating revenue of $105.5 million for the second quarter of 2004. Revenue decreased 5.7% and total tons hauled decreased 10.8% for the second quarter of 2005 compared to the same period in 2004. LTL revenue per hundredweight increased 3.9% from $11.31 in the 2004 quarter to $11.75 in the 2005 quarter, due to an increase in fuel surcharge revenue. Excluding fuel surcharge revenue, LTL revenue per hundredweight was down 1.5% in the 2005 second quarter compared to the 2004 quarter, partially due to a 4.2% increase in average weight per LTL shipment.
For the six months ended July 2, 2005, operating revenue amounted to $188.8 million a 6.8% decrease compared with operating revenue of $202.6 million for the first half of 2004. A pre-tax loss of $14.4 million or $0.79 cents per diluted share was realized in the 2005 first half compared to a pre-tax loss of $8.7 million, or $0.49 per diluted share in the 2004 first half. A net loss of $14.4 million, or $0.79 per diluted share, was reported for the six months ended July 2, 2005. An income tax benefit of approximately $5.5 million, equivalent to $0.30 benefit per diluted share, was recorded in 2005, but was offset by an increase in the valuation for deferred tax assets. This resulted in no tax benefit being recorded in the first half of 2005. The net loss in the first half of 2004 was $3.7 million, or $0.21 per diluted share.
Central's President and Chief Executive Officer, Bob Fasso stated: "In the second quarter, we achieved meaningful sequential improvement in our operating ratio (operating expenses as a percentage of operating revenue) and significantly improved our liquidity. On May 12, we announced that our goal for the second quarter of 2005 was to lower our operating ratio by 200 to 350 basis points compared to the first quarter. We successfully achieved that goal by improving our operating ratio by 330 basis points in the second quarter. Also, the operating ratio for the second quarter of 2005 improved 130 basis points over the same quarter last year. After taking into account the second quarter results, the total improvement in our operating ratio since the third quarter of 2004 stands at 740 basis points, which we believe is a substantial accomplishment for the company.
"We are encouraged by a 13.2% increase in revenue per day in the second quarter of 2005 over the first quarter. LTL tons per day increased 10.9% over the same time period. LTL revenue per hundredweight, without fuel surcharge, also improved slightly from $10.56 in the first quarter of 2005 to $10.61 in the second quarter of 2005, despite a 2.1% increase in weight per LTL shipment.”