LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas Best Corp. of Fort Smith on Wednesday reported a net loss of $7.9 million for its fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, citing a continuing weak freight market and a $2.4 million increase in workers’ compensation expenses.

Hurricane Sandy striking the East Coast in late October didn’t help, with the firm estimating that the storm resulted in lost revenue of $2 million to $2.5 million, or about 4 cents a share for the period.

On the plus side, the lessthan-truckload hauler recorded annual revenue above $2 billion for the first time. Arkansas Best Corp. is the parent of ABF Freight Systems Inc.

The company’s 31 centsper-share loss for the quarter was much steeper than analysts’ average estimate of 4 cents a share, but reported quarterly revenue of $537 million topped analysts’ consensus estimate of $524.2 million.

“We are pleased with revenue growth and improving profitability at our emerging businesses as they added upto more than 20 percent of our total company fourth-quarter revenue,” Judy McReynolds, president and chief executive officer, said in the company’s earnings release.

Among those businesses is Panther Expedited Services Inc., a logistics firm that Arkansas Best purchased in June.

McReynolds said duringa conference call Wednesday that, for the first time, the company is in direct negotiations with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters for a drivers’ contract, rather than taking part in negotiations on the National Master Freight Agreement.

That agreement serves as a template in contract negotiations between trucking companies and drivers represented by unions, primarily the Teamsters.

“We believe the current labor negotiations are an opportunity to reduce costs,”McReynolds said, as the company seeks to get rid of “operational obstacles.” The current ABF contract under that master agreement ends March 31.

ABF had said previously that it was seeking “dramatically lower” labor costs from its Teamsters workers.

The company said that without those cuts, it would have to close terminals and distribution centers and “job loss will certainly result.” In a statement, the company also disputed union claims of excessive management labor costs.

Michael Newcity, vice president and chief financial officer, said on the conference call that the company’s losses in the fourth quarter and for the year are the result of a lack of “operational flexibility.”

The results of Panther and other nontraditional services are encouraging, he said. However, he added, those ventures currently are not large enough to overcome losses in the company’s core trucking business.

Arkansas Best’s stock closed Wednesday at $10.83, up 20 cents, or 1.88 percent, in trading on the Nasdaq, after initially falling as much as 10 percent in early trading. The stock has traded between $6.43 and $19.50 in the past year.

Business, Pages 27 on 01/31/2013