Another strong year for Expeditors

Some things never seem to change – another year ends, and Expeditors posts annual results that other forwarders can only dream of.

It is almost boring to report it, but 2014 was no exception, as US-based forwarder and logistics services provider Expeditors International turned in yet another strong performance.

Looking first at the fourth-quarter: Expeditors reported 4Q14 net income up 19.0% y-o-y to $99 million, as net revenue rose 8.5% to $519 million. Operating income for the quarter was up 18.1% to $158 million.

The gains were led by the company’s Ocean Freight segment, where net revenue was up 11.4% to $122 million, closely followed by Air Freight (up 10.2% to $179 million) and by Customs Brokerage (up 5.7% to $218 million). Fourth-quarter air freight volume (in tonnes) was up 11% y-o-y, while ocean freight volume (in TEUs) was up 9%.

Expeditors continues to be one of the most profitable companies in the logistics industry, reporting a fourth-quarter operating margin of 30.4% and a net margin of 19.2%.

For the full year, net income was up 8.1% to $377 million as net revenue rose 5.2%. Expeditors’ operating and net margins for the year were 30.0% and 19.0%, respectively.