William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor | Feb 28, 2012 11:20AM EST
Increases in freight volume and yield pushed YRC Worldwide’s total revenue up 11 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011 to $1.2 billion, but didn’t add up to a profit.
The nation’s second largest less-than-truckload operator reported a consolidated operating loss of $38 million for the quarter and a net loss of $86.2 million. For the full year, YRC Worldwide increased revenue 12.3 percent to $4.9 billion, reporting an operating loss of $138.2 million and a net loss of $354.4 million.
That compares with $4.3 billion in total revenue in 2010, when the company reported an operating loss of $227.9 million and a net loss of $304.7 million.
CEO James Welch said he was “obviously not satisfied” with the results. However, Welch said the performance was consistent with or exceeded the company’s forecast.
YRC Worldwide still has access to more cash than it did a year ago, before its latest financial restructuring last July. The sale of truckload carrier Glen Moore in December also boosted the LTL operator’s liquidity, said Welch.
The holding company ended the year with $277 million in cash, cash equivalents and available liquidity under its $400 million asset-based loan facility. That’s an improvement from $194 million in liquidity at the end of 2010 and only a slight drop from $279 million in liquidity at the end of the third quarter.
The company’s biggest losses were at national LTL subsidiary YRC Freight, which is planning a major change of operations for April to improve its efficiency. YRC Freight lost $26.7 million in the fourth quarter, compared with $22.5 million a year ago, despite an 11 percent increase in operating revenue to $805 million.
Tons per day at YRC Freight rose 6.7 percent and shipments per day, 6 percent. Revenue per hundredweight, or yield, a measure of pricing, rose 4.8 percent. YRC Worldwide’s regional LTL carrier group increased its operating profit 14 percent to $6.9 million on a 12.6 percent increase in revenue to $382 million.
The regional group, which includes New Penn, Holland and Reddaway, reported an annual profit of $32.9 million, compared to a $3.1 million profit in 2010. The regional carriers’ combined annual revenue rose 14.8 percent to $1.6 billion.
“These three companies are doing the right things for their customers, and we expect their operating momentum to continue to improve in 2012,” said Welch.
-- Contact William B. Cassidy at wcassidy@joc.com. Follow him on Twitter @wbcassidy_joc.