LITTLE ROCK — USA Truck Inc. on Friday reported its biggest net quarterly loss ever — $6.1 million for this year’s third quarter compared with $4.3 million for the same quarter last year.
The loss translated into 59 cents per share, compared with a decline of 42 cents per share in the third quarter of 2011.
“We certainly hoped that operationally we would make some headway to cut into the loss,” Darron Ming, the company’s chief financial officer, said in an interview. “We are still in the middle of working on our business model.”
The loss was bigger than some analysts had expected. Yahoo Finance said a consensus of two analysts was for a loss of 25 cents per share for the third quarter.
The Van Buren-based company worked with an outside truckload executive to improve operations. Among the changes, USA dropped some short hauls under 300 miles that were unprofitable, Ming said.
Issues that hurt the company’s performance were increases in costs for workers’ compensation and health claims and a write-off of deferred debt issuance costs, which totaled 14 cents per share, the report said.
Weak freight demand, rising fuel prices and short supply of drivers also contributed to the results, company President and Chief Executive Officer Cliff Beckham said in a news release.
The report also cited a total net loss of $14.4 million for the year’s first three quarters.
The company, which rebuffed a merger attempt a year ago, said its finances are strong enough “to support our business for the foreseeable future,” according to the company’s statement.
The carrier, ranked 49thlargest in the nation, is in compliance with a new, fiveyear, $125 million revolving credit agreement with Wells Fargo. “We have $23 million of availability under the new deal,” Ming said. The company also has borrowing capacity available on the leasing side of operations.
“That helps with our cash needs and to buy tractors and trailers. We feel very comfortable with our balance sheet,” he said.
Revenue for the third quarter was $100.3 million, down 2.3 percent from $102.6 million in the same quarter of 2011, according to the earnings report.
Revenue was up in the Strategic Capacity Solutions, or freight brokerage, segment of the business, the report said. Base revenue grew by almost 27 percent and operating income by 2.2 percent.
The earnings report was released after the stock markets closed Friday. USA Truck’s shares closed at $2.93, down 4.9 percent. Earlier in the day the shares hit a new 52-week low of $2.80. The shares have traded as high as $10.35 over the past 52 weeks.
A year ago, the company said in its third-quarter report that its board had unanimously declined a meeting with Celadon Group of Indianapolis to discuss a possible merger.
Celadon, a similar-size trucking company, had accumulated about 6 percent of the Arkansas company’s outstanding stock. The Indiana company has since reported selling that stock.
USA Truck, founded in 1983, has 3,020 full-time employees and operates 2,257 tractors and 6,239 trailers, according to its website. The carrier provides general commodities transportation services in the continental U.S., Mexico and Canada. It also offers freight brokerage and intermodal services partnering with rail transporters.
Business, Pages 31 on 10/27/2012