Expeditors Profit Falls 4 Percent on Weak Peak Season

Expeditors International of Washington said a weak peak season for imports pulled fourth quarter profit down 4 percent year-over-year to $92.8 million.

The Seattle-based logistics company’s income rose 4 percent to $155 million from the same period a year ago, while revenue fell 5 percent to $476.2 million in the same period.

For the entire year, profit jumped 12 percent to $385.6 million as operating income increased 13 percent to $618.3 million. Annual revenue rose 12 percent year-over-year to $1.9 billion

CEO Peter Rose said Expeditors executed well but “would like to have seen stronger freight volumes as the customary real peak season surge never materialized.

“The lack of a peak season created irregular demand throughout the quarter,” Rose said. “While this resulted in some intermittent spot buying opportunities in both the air and ocean freight markets, ultimately they were not sufficient to compensate for relatively weaker freight demand.”

He said 2011 was a record year for Expeditors and that the company is “generally optimistic” about this year but trends in global trade and shipments through the company’s network in January raise concerns about the near term.

-- Contact Joseph Bonney at jbonney@joc.com. Follow him on Twitter @josephbonney.