Expeditors has reported its net revenues increased two per cent in the first quarter (Q1) of 2017 and airfreight tonnage increased by 16 per cent – compared to Q1 last year.
The freight forwarder’s net revenues reached $528 million in Q1 this year, up on the $517 million in Q1 2016.
Operating income was $146 million in Q1, a four per cent fall on the $151 million in Q1 2016. Net earnings attributable to shareholders decreased three per cent to $93 million.
Revenues from airfreight services were $615 million in Q1 this year, up on the $560 million in Q1 last year.
Expeditors president and chief executive officer, Jeffrey S. Musser says: “Similar to the past few quarters, our people continued to execute well and we again increased volumes and grew market share.
“We were especially pleased with the performance of our Transcon and customs brokerage teams, as they increased business with existing customers and also brought on new customers, proving our investments in those areas are bearing fruit.
“We remain deeply committed to the strategy we have laid out that continues to develop and grow our core business, leading to the purposeful growth in market share that we have been seeing.
“At the same time, we understand that we must continue to make future investments to remain in the market leading position our customers expect from us in terms of execution and innovation. Technology continues to advance at a rapid pace and we expect to remain at the leading edge of those changes.
“As expected and previously noted, we continued to experience the rate pressure that we have seen in recent quarters. Over the long term, we expect this rate volatility to subside and that we will return to more historical pricing patterns.
“In the meantime, we continue to refine our processes and carefully execute against our strategy to position our company for further growth.”