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| Third Quarter 2000 | ||||||||||
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Revenues for the three months ended September 30, 2000 rose to $126,326,000 compared to $121,331,000 in the 1999 third quarter. Vitran achieved a 9% increase in EBITDA to $10,247,000 in the 2000 third quarter, compared to $9,423,000 in the 1999 three-month period, and operating income rose 13% to $6,908,000 versus $6,104,000 in the year-earlier period. Net income during the 2000 third quarter was $2,932,000 or $0.30 basic earnings per share ($0.27 fully diluted), compared to $2,943,000 or $0.30 basic earnings per share ($0.27 fully diluted) in the year-ago third quarter. Per share results are based on 9,878,178 *11,002,978 fully diluted) and 9,911,306 (10,858,606 fully diluted) weighted average shares outstanding during the 2000 and 1999 third quarter periods, respectively. Revenues for the first nine months of 2000 increased 5% to $379,634,000 versus $360,180,000 in the comparable prior year period. Vitran achieved EBITDA of $28,356,000 for the nine-month period ended September 30,2000, compared to $28,222,000 in the comparable 1999 nine-month period, and operating income increase to $18,456,000 from $18,403,000 in the year-ago period. Net income for the current nine-month period was $7,942,000 or $0.80 basic earnings per share ($0.73 fully diluted), compared to $8,244,000 or $0.83 basic earnings per share ($0.77 fully diluted) during the year-ago period. Per share results are based on 9,900,079 (11,024,879 fully diluted) and 9,901,968 (10,849,268 fully diluted) weighted average shares outstanding during the 2000 and 1999 nine-month periods, respectively. |
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Quarterly revenue for the Distribution System was $120.6 million compared with $116.7 million a year ago. Income from operations (EBIT) rose 20.6% to $8.0 million compared to $6.6 million in the prior year. The LTL division performed particularly well and was the primary contributor to the gain in the quarter. The LTL division increased revenue for the quarter by 7.7% compared with the prior year, but more importantly, generated an increase of 25.9% in income from operations to $7.2 million from $5.7 million in the comparable period last year. The operating ratio improved from 93.5% for the third quarter of 1999 to 92.4% in the current period. LTL shipments were up 6% and tonnage increased 5% over the previous year's activity. Vitran Express, our 'next day delivery' LTL business covering the US central states, recorded increase in both revenue and operating income. The business continues to gain momentum with its expanded geographic service area. A new facility was opened during the quarter in Memphis, which helped to increase the service coverage in the state of Tennessee. In Canada the LTL results were very strong. On the strength of a 9.1% year-over-year increase in revenue, the LTL business recorded a healthy improvement in operating income reflecting new gains in productivity and efficiency arising from the increased use of containers throughout the system. Cross border and expedited traffic increased significantly over the previous year. Our cross border transit times are the best in the industry and new schedules have been introduced for the east-west expedited business. Income from operations in the Logistics and Intermodal business increased 38.8% year-over-year, despite a 13.8% decline in revenue as a result of a contract that was now renewed. Prospects for new business are very good as the benefits of outsourcing distribution responsibilities are growing in popularity. Performance at our short-haul truckload business was below expectations as a result of the industry-wide continuing difficulty in recruiting drivers. Demand for the service continues to be strong, but it has been very difficult to find owner operators. Revenue declined 4.9% year-over-year for the quarter and the operating ratio rose from 94.8% to 96.3%. A number of initiatives are in place to hire and retain more drivers and we are experiencing some success. |
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Our recycling business had a very disappointing quarter as a result of the difficulties incurred in commissioning three new plants. The business recorded a loss from operations of $297,000 versus an income of $348,000 a year earlier for the same period. During the quarter the results improved steadily each month and the expectation is that the fourth quarter will show improvement over the third as the new plants process more material and various adjustments are made. |
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Barring any dramatic changes in the present economic circumstances, we expect the fourth quarter performance to be better than the previous year. We continue to explore different avenues for achieving a higher share price as management feels the true value of the corporation is not properly reflected in the public marketplace. |
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| Dividend | ||||||||||
At a meeting held on November 1, 2000, the Vitran Board of Directors approved a semi-annual dividend of $0.035 per share payable on December 31, 2000 to shareholders of record on December 15, 2000. |
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| Information on this news announcement
relating to projected growth, improvements in productivity and future results constitutes
forward looking statements. Actual results in future periods may differ materially from
the forward-looking statements because of a number of risks and uncertainties, including
but 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 and environmental hazards. Additional information about these and other
factors that could affect the Company's business is set forth in the Company's 1999 Annual
Report on Form 20-F and other filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission
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Last Updated: December 8, 2000 |
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