Old Dominion Freight Line, Thomasville, N.C., announced financial results for the third quarter and first nine months of 2002.
Revenue from operations for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2002, increased 16.3% to a record $149,931,000 from $128,960,000 for the third quarter of 2001. Net income for the third quarter was $6,395,000, up 74.7% from $3,660,000 for the third quarter of 2001. Earnings per diluted share rose 75.0% for the third quarter to $0.77 from $0.44 for the third quarter last year, while the company's operating ratio improved to 91.9% from 94.0%.
Revenue from operations for the first nine months of 2002 increased 10.3% to a record $416,747,000 from $377,835,000 for the first nine months of 2001. Net income for the latest nine-month period rose 67.6% to $12,999,000 from $7,757,000 for the same period in 2001, and earnings per diluted share increased 67.7% to $1.56 from $0.93. The company's operating ratio improved to 93.8% for the first nine months of 2002 from 95.5% for the first nine months of 2001.
Earl E. Congdon, chairman and chief executive officer of Old Dominion said, "We are very pleased with Old Dominion's financial performance for the third quarter and first nine months of 2002, especially considering the economic environment throughout the year. We attribute our performance primarily to our disciplined implementation of a long-term growth strategy focused on leveraging our extensive service center network and differentiating Old Dominion through high quality service, new service products, faster transit times and expanded coverage, enabling us to increase our market share. Two recently announced service initiatives -- our introduction of a new air freight line-haul service product, OD AIR EXPRESS, and the launch of a significantly enhanced web site -- reflect our continuing efforts to add tangible value in providing solutions for our customers' logistics needs. During the last four weeks of the quarter, the company's financial results also benefited from the increased freight volume created by the September 3rd bankruptcy of Consolidated Freightways.
"The company's key operating trends for the third quarter improved significantly over the third quarter of 2001," said Congdon. "We achieved comparable period increases of 13.8% and 14.6% in LTL tons and LTL shipments, respectively, a 4.0% increase in LTL revenue per hundredweight and a 3.5% increase in LTL revenue per LTL shipment. The operating leverage generated by this growth is evident in the improvement in the company's operating ratio for the quarter to 91.9%."
Based on Old Dominion's assessment of current and near-term business conditions and its performance through the first nine months of 2002, the company is revising upward its expectations for earnings per diluted share for 2002 to a range of $2.05 to $2.15. Old Dominion's earnings per diluted share for 2001 were $1.22, excluding nonrecurring gains totaling $0.21 per diluted share from the sale and disposal of operating and non-operating properties. Old Dominion's expected range for earnings per diluted share for the fourth quarter of 2002 is $0.49 to $0.59. Earnings per diluted share for the fourth quarter of 2001 were $0.29, excluding the nonrecurring gains discussed above. Based on Old Dominion's expectations that existing business conditions continue into 2003, the company currently estimates earnings per diluted share for 2003 of $3.00 to $3.10. Giving effect to the possible equity financing it recently announced, the company currently estimates earnings per diluted share for 2003 of approximately $2.56 to $2.64.
Old Dominion Freight Line Inc. is a less-than-truckload multi-regional motor carrier providing one- to four-day service among five regions in the United States and next-day and second-day service within these regions. The company provides direct service to 38 states within the Southeast, South Central, Northeast, Midwest and West regions of the country including 24 states within which it provides full-state coverage. In addition, through marketing and carrier relationships, Old Dominion provides service to and from the remaining 12 states, as well as Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico.