Arkansas Best profit soars on cost cuts, efficiency

The Associated Press

4/24/2008

FORT SMITH, Ark. — Trucking company Arkansas Best Corp. said Wednesday its first-quarter earnings soared 78 percent, as reigned-in costs and improved efficiency offset poor pricing and accelerating fuel costs.

The company earned $8.5 million, or 34 cents per share, compared with $4.8 million, or 19 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter.

Revenue rose 5 percent to $447.5 million, from $427.8 million in the prior-year period.

Analysts were expecting a profit of 18 cents per share on revenue of $433.8 million, according to a poll by Thomson Financial.

The company attributed its results to a focus on expense controls, including examining labor costs, as well as an improvement in tonnage.

“Though business levels remain depressed, quarterly year-over-year tonnage trends have continued to improve since the third quarter of 2007,” President and Chief Executive Robert A. Davidson said in a statement.