Vitran says 1Q net income down, revenue up

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Vitran, a North American transportation and logistics firm, announced financial results for the first quarter of 2008, the three-month period ended March 31. The company reported net income of $1.1 million on a 15.2 percent increase in revenue to $177.5 million for the quarter. In the comparable 2007 three-month period, the company achieved net income of $3.4 million on revenue of $154.1 million.

“Downward pressure on Vitran’s margins continued during the first quarter of 2008, as the weak economic environment continued to weigh on our bottom-line profitability,” said Rick Gaetz, president and chief executive officer of the Toronto-based company. “Internal integration initiatives at the company are proceeding, including the U.S. operating system transition, which is imminent. The integration has been a companywide distraction, which has negatively impacted recent quarterly operating results.”

Gaetz said that as soon as the system is fully operational, Vitran will roll out its inter-regional and cross-border value-added services to its customer base. “Notwithstanding these issues we faced during the quarter, it is worth noting that in addition to our overall revenue increase, Vitran achieved a daily tonnage improvement of 3.1 percent during the period, and our cross-border revenue grew 51 percent,” he said.