C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc., the Minneapolis-based third-party logistics company, said its gross profits increased 12.4% to $149.6 million in 2004 from $133.1 million in 2003.

Income from operations increased 13.7% to $47.2 million in the first quarter of 2004 from $41.5 million in the first quarter of 2003. Net income increased 15.6% to $29.1 million in the first quarter of 2004 from $25.1 million in the first quarter of 2003.
Diluted net income per share increased 17.2% to $0.34 per share in the first quarter of 2004 from $0.29 per share in the first quarter of 2003.
"We're happy with our results and feel the first quarter was a solid start for 2004," said John P. Wiehoff, chief executive officer of C.H. Robinson. "Our transaction volumes were up significantly. We gained a lot of new spot market, transactional business in the quarter, particularly in March. This was driven by a tighter truck capacity market, which made finding carriers tougher and did impact our margins on our contractual business. We continue to sign up new carriers and we believe that if the rate environment stays strong, new carriers will come into the marketplace."