C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc. on Tuesday, Feb. 1, reported financial results for the quarter and year ended Dec. 31. For the quarter, total revenue was $2.33 billion, a 15.8 percent increase from $2.01 billion during the year-ago period; and net income was $103.2 million, up 17.6 percent from $87.7 million. For the year, total revenue was $9.27 billion, up 22.4 percent from $7.58 billion during 2009; and net income was $387 million, up 7.3 percent from $360.8 million.
“We’re very pleased with our performance in 2010, and we are especially proud that we were able to continue our long track record of annual earnings increases,” said John P. Wiehoff, chairman and chief executive officer of Minneapolis-based C.H. Robinson. “The last few years have been challenging for many companies, and we think our results show the strength of our business model, the dedication and talent of our people, and our execution discipline.”
Wiehoff said a lot of uncertainty remains in the marketplace. “While supply and demand variables continue to be volatile in most of our services, we have much better net revenue growth momentum going into 2011 than we had the last few years,” he said. “In January 2011, compared to January 2010, we have achieved consolidated net revenue growth, per business day, in the mid-teens. Our North American truckload volumes increased approximately seven percent in January. A lot could change in marketplace demand and capacity availability as the year progresses, but we are pleased with our early results so far this year.”
Truck net revenues, which consist of truckload and less-than-truckload services, increased 16.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010. Truckload volumes increased about 9 percent, and truckload net revenue margins decreased primarily due to higher fuel prices; excluding the estimated impacts of the change in fuel, truckload pricing to customers increased about 8 percent. LTL net revenues increased about 17 percent, driven by an increase in total shipments of about 11 percent and increased pricing.
Intermodal net revenue increased 9.3 percent due to increased prices, partially offset by slightly lower net revenue margins; prices increased due to higher fuel costs, longer average length of haul and price increases driven by a shortage of container capacity in many markets.
