Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Arkansas Best 1Q Income Declines

Arkansas Best Corp. of Fort Smith on Monday announced first-quarter net income of $6.1 million, or 24 cents per diluted share, down 42 percent from $10.5 million, or 41 cents per share, for the same period last year.

An accounting charge of 20 cents per share related to workers' compensation claims decreased the profit of 44 cents per share to 24 cents per share.

Revenue was up 8 percent for the first quarter, with $450.6 million compared with $417.3 million in 2005.

Arkansas Best Corp.’s subsidiary, ABF Freight System Inc., posted first-quarter revenue of $413.7 million, up 7 percent from $384.1 million for first-quarter 2005. Due to the accounting charge, operating income also was down for the first quarter of 2006, with $8.4 million, down 51 percent from $17.2 million during the same period last year. Excluding the accounting charge, operating income was $16.8 million.

ABF's total weight per day was up 4 percent during the first quarter of 2006, compared with the same time last year.

"Although ABF's tonnage increase in the first quarter was adequate, we are not satisfied with this result," Robert A. Davidson, Arkansas Best's president and CEO, said in a written statement.

"First quarter tonnage comparisons between this year and last year are improved by the fact that the Easter holiday occurred in the first quarter of 2005 and occurred in the second quarter of 2006. When adjusted for the Easter effect, ABF's total tonnage per day increased a little over 3 percent."

Shares of the company (Nasdaq: ABFS) were trading at $40.86 on Monday after closing at $42.71 on Friday.

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