Frozen Food Express Industries Inc. said its third-quarter total revenue was $127.0 million, as compared to $137.5 million during the same quarter of 2005. Third-quarter 2006 total revenue included fuel surcharges of $22.2 million,
compared to $18.7 million for the same quarter of 2005. Also included in third quarter 2006 total revenue was about $500,000 from disaster relief efforts compared to $1.9 million for the same period in 2005.
Net income for the third quarter of 2006 decreased to $2.9 million from $5.0 million for the third quarter of 2005. Third quarter 2006 net income per diluted share of common stock was $.16 as compared to $.26 for the third quarter of 2005.
Stoney M. "Mit" Stubbs, president and CEO said, "We continue to see signs that the freight economy is softening. We said that 2005 was going to be a tough act to follow in terms of bottom-line performance.
"Since we put our new management team in place a few months back, we have been looking for signs of improvement in consecutive quarters. We are beginning to like what we see. Our operating ratio (freight operating expenses divided by freight revenue) improved from 97.2 percent in the first six months of 2006 to 95.7 percent during the third quarter. One quarter doesn't constitute a trend, but I think we are seeing some positive signs as we manage our way through a period of softening demand for our core linehaul services."
For the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2006, total revenue decreased by less than one percent to $379.9 million from $382.2 million for the same period of 2005. Total revenue during the first nine months of 2006 included fuel surcharge revenue of $59.4 million, compared to $43.5 million during the comparable period of 2005. Total revenue for the nine months included $2.5 million from disaster relief efforts.
Operating income for the nine months decreased to $12.1 million from $20.5 million for the comparable period of 2005. Contributing factors to higher operating expenses during the first nine months of 2006 as compared to the same period of 2005 were fuel expenses, higher claims and self-insurance expense levels, lower gains on the sale of equipment and professional fees associated with an investigation that was completed earlier in 2006.
"Truckload volumes were down by about 9 percent from last year and our average revenue per loaded mile was also down by about 3 percent,” Stubbs said. “We have experienced downward pricing pressure from customers and we are working to structure offerings that will accommodate their needs and also fit into lanes that are within our defined freight network.”