Expeditors International Profit Down on Lower Air Freight, EU Fine
A 9% decline year-over-year in airfreight tonnage during the first quarter of 2012 caused Expeditors International of Washington net earnings to fall to $76.7 million for the first quarter of 2012, from $91.2 million for the same quarter of 2011. Net revenue decreased 2% to $446.6 million, it said.
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"Our largest customers are being very cautious about the amount of airfreight they are using this year," said Chairman Peter Rose, but "the 5% increase in airfreight shipments handled during the first quarter, despite this decline in tonnage, reinforces that our customers do continue to ship." The results include the full accrual of the $5.5 million fine levied by the European Commission in March. "We disagree with this (EU) decision," Rose said. "As we said then, we did not enter into any agreement that affected customer pricing in any way."