UTi Worldwide Reports Results

In its fiscal 2009 third quarter ended October 31, 2008, global logistics and freight forwarding services company UTi Worldwide reported revenues increased 3% to $1,210 million and net revenues increased 5% to $408.2 million.

Income from continuing operations reached $35.8 million, up from $34.7 million.

"We are pleased to report growth in both revenues and operating income, as well as operating margin expansion of 70 basis points, reflecting the benefits of our cost reduction plan and our ongoing efforts to improve our operating performance," said Roger I. MacFarlane, chief executive officer. "Freight forwarding volumes deteriorated throughout the quarter, particularly in airfreight, where growth turned negative for the first time in many years. While part of the airfreight weakness was market related, the majority resulted from steps we took to eliminate low yielding business, consistent with our more disciplined approach to net revenue growth. Yields expanded, offsetting the volume decline and demonstrating the flexibility of our forwarding model. We are also very pleased with the performance in our contract logistics and distribution segment, which produced improved operating margins in the quarter. We continued to win new logistics business and our surface distribution operations performed exceptionally well, though revenue gains in the quarter were offset by businesses that were shed through our previously announced cost reduction plan. We believe the solid performance delivered by our contract logistics and distribution segment reinforces the value of our CLIENTasONE strategy."

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