International logistics services company UTi Worldwide Inc. today reported financial results for its fiscal 2009 and second quarter ended July 31, 2008.
Fiscal second quarter 2009 vs. 2008 results included increased gross revenues, up 20% to $1,255.1 million and increased net revenues of $416.0 million, up 14%.
Income from continuing operations was $28.5 million, or $0.28 per diluted share, compared with $27.6 million, or $0.28 per diluted share for the prior-year period. Discontinued operations included a gain of $5.3 million, or $0.05 per diluted share, in the fiscal 2009 second quarter on the sale of the company's art packing business in Europe.
Net income was $33.7 million, or $0.33 per diluted share, compared with $27.7 million, or $0.28 per diluted share. "Revenues continued to expand primarily due to solid organic growth in both of our business segments," said Roger I. MacFarlane, CEO. "Volume growth in our freight forwarding operations weakened toward the end of the second quarter in conjunction with slowing growth in international trade. This was offset by a meaningful increase in yields, excluding the impact of fuel surcharges. We continued to add new logistics business, resulting in growth in this segment despite the loss of revenue from actions taken through our cost reduction plan. Operating expenses grew at a faster rate than net revenues in the second quarter compared to a year ago, but this trend reversed at the end of the quarter as we started to see a greater impact from our cost reduction plan and profit improvement efforts. We were particularly pleased to see that our efforts in contract logistics led to sequential margin improvement in the quarter. All actions under our cost reduction plan have now been completed and we continue to expect to see the anticipated improvements in the second half of fiscal 2009."
Gross and net revenue gains for the fiscal 2009 second quarter were primarily due to organic growth in nearly all geographic regions, particularly in Europe and Asia Pacific, as well as contributions from acquisitions made by the company since August 1, 2007. The company's adjusted gross and net revenues, excluding acquisitions, increased 17% and 10%, respectively, in the fiscal 2009 second quarter, compared with the same period last year, despite of the shedding of revenue through the company's cost reduction plan.
Operating expenses in the second quarter of fiscal 2009 totaled $372.4 million, an increase of 16% vs. the same period last year. The increase primarily reflects costs to support the company's overall growth, as well as costs attributable to acquisitions.
Operating expenses in the fiscal 2009 second quarter included legal and related costs of $0.7 million incurred by the company as a result of the US Dept. of Justice's publicly announced investigation into the pricing practices of the air cargo transportation industry and other related investigations and lawsuits.
