(By Balaseshan) J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. (NASDAQ: JBHT), which provides surface transportation and delivery services, reported a 16% growth in quarterly earnings on growth in revenue, effective cost controls and a lower cost of borrowing. Results exceeded Street's expectations.
Earnings for the fourth quarter were $83.98 million or $0.70 per share, up from $72.57 million or $0.61 per share last year.
Total operating revenue grew 11.7% to $1.34 billion. Excluding fuel surcharges, operating revenue increased 10%.
Analysts, on average, polled by Thomson Reuters had expected a profit of $0.69 per share on revenue of $1.33 billion for the fourth quarter.
Intermodal (JBI) revenue for the period grew 13% on 11% volumes growth, while Dedicated Contract Services (DCS) revenue increased 9% primarily resulted from 335 net additional revenue producing trucks.
Integrated Capacity Solutions (ICS) revenue jumped 30%, mostly due to a 47% increase in load volume primarily due to a change in freight mix driven by customer demand. Truck (JBT) revenue decreased 12% on an approximate 19% reduction in fleet size.
JBHT is trading up 2.73% at $65.19 on Thursday. The stock has been trading between $48.21 and $65.90 for the past 52 weeks.