Patriot Transportation Holding on Wednesday, Aug. 6, reported net income of $2.774 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2008, an increase of $348,000 or 14.3 percent compared to net income of $2.426 million in the same period last year. Net income for the first nine months of fiscal 2008 was $4.805 million, a decrease of $2.378 million compared to net income of $7.183 million for the same period last year.
The Jacksonville, Fla.-based company said its transportation segment was impacted negatively in the first nine months of fiscal 2008 by reduced demand for flatbed trucking services and high fuel expenses, while the first nine months of fiscal 2007 benefited from gains on equipment sales and prior period insurance recoveries.
For the third quarter of fiscal 2008, consolidated revenues were $46.061 million, an increase of $6.43 million or 16.2 percent over the same quarter last year. Transportation segment revenues were $39.99 million in the third quarter of 2008, an increase of $5.883 million over the same quarter last year. Revenue miles in the current quarter were down 2.6 percent compared to the third quarter of 2007 due to reduced loads in the flatbed portion of the transportation segment.
Excluding fuel surcharges, revenue per mile increased 8.4 percent over the same quarter last year. In addition to general rate increases, a shift to new business in the flatbed division was a significant factor in this increase. Gross profit in the transportation segment increased $778,000 or 16.2 percent as increased revenue per mile more than offset reduced demand for flatbed trucking services and high fuel expenses.
For the first nine months of fiscal 2008, consolidated revenues were $126.349 million, an increase of $11.438 million or 10.0 percent over the same period last year. Transportation segment revenues were $107.647 million in the first nine months of 2008, an increase of $9.228 million over the same period last year. Revenue miles in the first nine months of fiscal 2008 were down 3.1 percent compared to the first nine months of fiscal 2007 due to reduced loads in the flatbed portion of the transportation segment.
Excluding fuel surcharges, revenue per mile increased 5.3 percent over the same period last year. In addition to general rate increases, the addition of new business in the flatbed division during the third quarter was a significant factor in this increase. Until the third quarter, decreased construction material freight demand and pricing softness from the downturn in housing pushed revenues down in the flatbed operation compared to the same period last year. Gross profit in the transportation segment decreased $3.407 million or 22.8 percent due to the increase in cost of operations along with decreased freight demand, resulting in reduced revenue miles in the flatbed portion.
The company said the flatbed portion of the transportation segment continues to face poor freight demand from the housing downturn as well as high fuel expenses. However, during the third quarter of fiscal 2008, increased revenue per mile in the transportation segment more than offset reduced demand for flatbed trucking services and high fuel expenses.
