News Announcement
REMINDER:
Vitran management will conduct a conference call and webcast tomorrow, April 21 at 10:00 a.m. (Eastern), to discuss the Company’s 2005 first quarter results.
Conference call dial-in: 800/266-1764
Live Webcast:www.vitran.com (select “Investor Relations”)
| CONTACT: | ||
| Richard Gaetz, President/CEO Sean Washchuk, VP Finance/CFO Vitran Corporation Inc. 416/596-7664 | Robert Rinderman Purdy Tran Jaffoni & Collins Incorporated 212/835-8500 or VTNC@jcir.com | |
VITRAN DELIVERS NET INCOME GROWTH OF 67%,
HIGHLIGHTING 14TH CONSECUTIVE QUARTER OF NET INCOME GROWTH
TORONTO, ONTARIO (April 20, 2005) – Vitran Corporation Inc. (NASDAQ: VTNC, TSX: VTN), a North American transportation and logistics firm, today announced financial results for the 2005 first quarter ended March 31, 2005 at its Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders held at the Toronto Stock Exchange (all figures reported in $U.S.).
For the 2005 first quarter, the Company achieved net income of $2.8 million, or 0.22 per diluted share, on revenue of $93.9 million. In the comparable 2004 quarter, Vitran recorded net income of $1.6 million, or $0.13 per diluted share on revenue of $87.1 million. The prior year’s first quarter results were adversely impacted by a CN Railway strike.
“The first quarter of 2005 marked Vitran’s 14th straight quarter of year-over-year earnings growth, and we are pleased with the consistently improving results we have achieved over the past 3 1/2 years,” stated Vitran President and Chief Executive Officer Rick Gaetz. “In addition to the 67% net income growth Vitran has delivered, we remain focused on making acquisitions that will further expand our U.S. footprint beyond the Central States.”
At March 31, 2005, Vitran had $35.3 million of cash and marketable securities. In addition, the Company had $30.6 million of unused credit facilities.
First quarter per share results are based on 12.8 million and 12.7 million diluted weighted average shares outstanding during the 2005 and 2004 three-month periods, respectively.
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Segmented Results
Income from operations at Vitran’s LTL (less-than-truckload) segment rose 61 percent during the 2005 first quarter to $3.3 million, with revenue growing at both the Canadian and U.S. business units. This resulted in a 140 basis point improvement in the segment’s consolidated OR (operating ratio), compared to the 2004 first quarter. The U.S. LTL operation increased shipments and revenue per hundred-weight in the current quarter. The Canadian LTL operation, which was impacted by the CN Railway strike in the prior year, recorded improvements in revenue and income from operations compared to the 2004 first quarter. The Canadian LTL operation recorded double-digit growth in both revenue per shipment and revenue per hundred-weight during the three-month period.
Vitran’s Truckload segment grew income from operations by 66 percent during the quarter, and lowered its OR to 91.7. The Logistics segment achieved nine percent higher revenue, and an eight percent increase in operating income on a flat, 95.9 OR during the first quarter. The Logistics segment continues to make progress towards filling the capacity at its new distribution facility.
Guidance Update
Management maintains its 2005 diluted earnings per share guidance for the year of $1.23 to $1.35.
About Vitran Corporation Inc.
Vitran Corporation Inc. is a North American group of transportation companies offering
less-than-truckload, logistics, truckload, and freight brokerage services. To find out more about Vitran Corporation Inc. (NASDAQ:VTNC, TSX:VTN), visit the website atwww.vitran.com.
Statements in the press release regarding management’s future expectation, beliefs, goals, plans, or prospects constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual results to differ materially from the statements made. For this purpose, any statements that are contained herein that are not statements or historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Without limiting the foregoing, the words “believes”, “anticipates”, “plans” “intends”, “will”, “should”, ”expects”, “projects”, and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual result, future circumstances or events to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. These risks include, but are not limited to, economic factors, demand for the Company’s services, fuel price fluctuations, the availability of employee drivers and independent contractors, risks associated with geographic expansion, capital requirements, claims exposure and insurance costs, competition, government regulation changes, environmental hazards and other risks detailed from time-to-time in the Company’s public disclosure documents or other
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filing with the Canadian and United States securities commissions or other securities regulatory
bodies. The forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof, and the Company disclaims any intention and has no obligation or responsibility, except as required by law, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
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Vitran Corporation Inc.
Consolidated Balance Sheets
(in thousands of United States dollars)
March 31, 2005 Dec. 31, 2004
| Assets | ||||||||
| Current assets: | ||||||||
| Cash | $ | 3,765 | $ | 7,375 | ||||
| Marketable securities | 31,539 | 33,087 | ||||||
| Accounts receivable | 43,485 | 40,124 | ||||||
| Inventory, deposits & prepaid expenses | 5,600 | 5,924 | ||||||
| Future income tax assets | 3,477 | 3,667 | ||||||
| 87,866 | 90,177 | |||||||
| Capital assets | 42,343 | 37,563 | ||||||
| Goodwill | 45,266 | 45,304 | ||||||
| $ | 175,475 | $ | 173,044 | |||||
Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity Current liabilities: | ||||||||
| Accounts payable & accrued liabilities $34,926 $33,377 | ||||||||
| Income and other taxes payable | 1,638 | 2,399 | ||||||
| Current portion of long-term debt | 3,781 | 3,030 | ||||||
| 40,345 | 38,806 | |||||||
| Long-term debt | 10,187 | 11,507 | ||||||
| Future income tax liabilities | 3,930 | 3,546 | ||||||
| Shareholders’ equity: | ||||||||
| Common shares | 60,595 | 60,798 | ||||||
| Contributed surplus | 452 | 323 | ||||||
| Retained earnings | 57,274 | 54,972 | ||||||
| Cumulative translation adjustment | 2,692 | 3,092 | ||||||
| 121,013 | 119,185 | |||||||
| $ | 175,475 | $ | 173,044 | |||||
(Statements of Income follows)
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VITRAN CORPORATION INC.
Consolidated Statements Of Income
(unaudited) (in thousands of $U.S., except share and per share amounts)
| Three months | Three months | |||||||
| Ended | ended | |||||||
| Mar. 31, 2005 | Mar. 31, 2004 | |||||||
| Revenue | $ | 93,941 | $ | 87,146 | ||||
| Operating expenses | 80,144 | 75,574 | ||||||
| Selling, general and administrative expenses | 8,817 | 8,163 | ||||||
| Other expense (income) | (10 | ) | (76 | ) | ||||
| 88,951 | 83,661 | |||||||
| Income from operations before depreciation | 4,990 | 3,485 | ||||||
| Depreciation expense | 1,331 | 1,308 | ||||||
| Income from operations before undernoted | 3,659 | 2,177 | ||||||
| Interest expense (income), net | (48 | ) | 43 | |||||
| Income from operations before income taxes | 3,707 | 2,134 | ||||||
| Income taxes | 953 | 485 | ||||||
| Net Income | $ | 2,754 | $ | 1,649 | ||||
| Earnings per share: | ||||||||
| Basic – Net Income | $ | 0.22 | $ | 0.14 | ||||
| Diluted – Net Income | $ | 0.22 | $ | 0.13 | ||||
| Weighted average number of shares: | ||||||||
| Basic | 12,411,968 | 12,115,292 | ||||||
| Diluted | 12,754,930 | 12,697,994 | ||||||
(Statements of Cash Flows follows)
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VITRAN CORPORATION INC.
Consolidated Statements Of Cash Flows
(unaudited) (in thousands of $U.S.)
| Three months | Three months | |||||||
| ended | ended | |||||||
| Mar. 31, 2005 | Mar. 31, 2004 | |||||||
| Cash provided by (used in): | ||||||||
Operations: | ||||||||
| Net income | $ | 2,754 | $ | 1,649 | ||||
| Items not involving cash from operations: | ||||||||
| Depreciation expense | 1,331 | 1,308 | ||||||
| Future income taxes | 565 | 296 | ||||||
| Stock based compensation expense | 129 | — | ||||||
| Loss (gain) on sale of fixed assets | (10 | ) | (76 | ) | ||||
| 4,769 | 3,177 | |||||||
| Change in non-cash working capital components | (2,249 | ) | (10,189 | ) | ||||
| 2,520 | (7,012 | ) | ||||||
Investments: | ||||||||
| Purchase of capital assets | (6,222 | ) | (1,635 | ) | ||||
| Proceeds on sale of capital assets | 14 | 135 | ||||||
| Marketable securities | 1,369 | (145 | ) | |||||
| (4,839 | ) | (1,645 | ) | |||||
Financing: | ||||||||
| Repayment of long-term debt | (570 | ) | (1,809 | ) | ||||
| Issue of Common Shares upon exercise of stock options | 17 | 351 | ||||||
| Repurchase of Common Shares | (692 | ) | — | |||||
| (1,245 | ) | (1,458 | ) | |||||
| Effect of translation adjustment on cash | (46 | ) | 58 | |||||
| Increase (decrease) in cash position | (3,610 | ) | (10,057 | ) | ||||
| Cash position, beginning of period | 7,375 | 12,417 | ||||||
| Cash position, end of period | $ | 3,765 | $ | 2,360 | ||||
| Change in non-cash working capital components: | ||||||||
| Accounts receivable | $ | (3,361 | ) | $ | (5,004 | ) | ||
| Inventory, deposits and prepaid expenses | 324 | (6 | ) | |||||
| Income and other taxes recoverable/payable | (761 | ) | (1,285 | ) | ||||
| Accounts payable and accrued liabilities | 1,549 | (3,894 | ) | |||||
| $ | (2,249 | ) | $ | (10,189 | ) | |||
(additional financial information follows)
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LTL Statistical Information — U.S. and CDN Divisions
| For the quarter ended March 31, 2005 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Q. overQ. | Q. over Q. | |||||||||||||||||||
($U.S.) | U.S. LTL | % Change | ($CDN) | CDN LTL | % Change | |||||||||||||||
| Revenue (000’s) | $ | 42,619 | 5.4 | Revenue (000's) | $ | 41,088 | 4.1 | |||||||||||||
| No. of Shipments | 370,426 | 3.9 | No. of Shipments | 201,566 | (8.0 | ) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight (000’s lbs) | 513,968 | (1.5 | ) | Weight (000's lbs) | 387,468 | (8.7 | ) | |||||||||||||
| Revenue per shipment | $ | 115.05 | 1.5 | Revenue per shipment | $ | 203.84 | 13.1 | |||||||||||||
| Revenue per CWT | $ | 8.29 | 7 | Revenue per CWT | $ | 10.60 | 14 | |||||||||||||
Supplementary Segmented Financial Information
(000’s of $U.S.)
| For the quarter | For the quarter | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ended March 31, | ended March 31, | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005 | 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Revenue | Inc. from | OR% | Revenue | Inc. from | OR% | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| — | Operations | — | — | Operations | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||
LTL | 76,105 | 3,263 | 95.7 | LTL | 70,259 | 2,031 | 97.1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
LOG | 8,876 | 364 | 95.9 | LOG | 8,167 | 337 | 95.9 | |||||||||||||||||||||
TL | 8,960 | 742 | 91.7 | TL | 8,720 | 446 | 94.9 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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