John D. Boyd | Jul 27, 2011 5:46PM EDT
Intermodal service provider Hub Group’s second quarter profit rose 49 percent year-over-year to $14.4 million, powered by a 12 percent increase in shipments loaded onto railcars.
Hub operates a range of businesses, including truck brokerage and logistics units, but intermodal alone generated $396 million in revenue, up 24 percent.
Total receipts rose 66 percent to $760 million, partly fueled by its April acquisition of third-party logistics firm Exel Transportation Services, now called Mode Transportation. That unit accounted for $202 million of Hub’s second quarter revenue.
“We are executing well against our strategic priorities,” said Chairman and CEO David P. Yeager, citing the combination of organic growth and acquisition benefits.
Truck brokerage brought in $90 million, for just a 4 percent gain. Hub’s Unyson Logistics unit grew top-line sales 45 percent to $74 million.
For its intermodal business, Hub matched the 12 percent volume gain with another 12 percent in charges for fuel and freight pricing, and the effects of improved freight mix.
Hub has a large fleet of 53-foot domestic containers that it markets to customers. It operates rail-truck service across the country but partners in the West only with Union Pacific Railroad.
-- Contact John D. Boyd at jboyd@joc.com. Follow him on Twitter www.twitter.com/jboydjoc
