Mullen Transportation Inc. generated record revenues of $125.8 million in the first quarter, compared to last year's $88.1 million, an increase of 42.8%.

The year-over-year increase of $37.7 million was due to the strong performance of the Oilfield Services segment, which benefited significantly from the rebound in oil and gas drilling in western Canada and from the results of acquisitions completed in the latter part of 2002.
Profitability was impacted positively by the strong demand for virtually all services related to the oil and gas sector. The company realized higher equipment utilization levels along with improved pricing for its services. This resulted in increases in both operating income -- $24.4 million in 2003 as compared to $15.5 million in the prior year -- and in net income, $12.7 million as compared to $7.9 million. Basic earnings per share were $0.86, up 59.3% over the same period one year earlier.
Murray Mullen, chairman, president and CEO, said, "Our record performance in the first quarter can be directly attributed to the increased spending by the oil and gas industry in western Canada.
"In terms of the health of the overall economy, we are not as positive. Our Trucking segment continues to be hampered by high costs, most notably fuel and insurance, and an extremely competitive market. And as I have stated on numerous occasions, we will not expand our trucking business until we see an improvement in the fundamentals that drive our investment decision, namely pricing. For this reason we determined that continuing to operate our U.S. trucking business, Mill Creek Motor Freight Inc., was not viable. The reality is that the U.S. trucking market is currently too competitive. Even in times of economic expansion the U.S. operations had difficulty and with today's competitive market we are unable to generate an acceptable return, so the decision really was not that difficult," added Mullen.