P.A.M. Transportation President Daniel H. Cushman.
P.A.M. Transportation Services Inc. of Tontitown reported its second consecutive quarter of record earnings per share Tuesday.
The company (Nasdaq: PTSI) said net income more than doubled in the third quarter to slightly more than $5 million from $2.4 million in the same quarter of 2013. Earnings per share increased from 28 cents in 2013 to 63 cents this year.
P.A.M. previously reported earnings per share of 62 cents in the second quarter of 2014 in July. The company bought back 675,000 shares in January to help reduce the number of outstanding shares from 8.6 million to 8 million.
“Strong freight demand and favorable fuel prices were significant contributing factors to our success in the quarter,” said Daniel H. Cushman, the company president and CEO, in a news release. “The current level of demand allows us to be more selective in choosing lanes, which offer both driver satisfaction and higher returns.
“As a result, we have been able to further reduce the number of empty miles driven as well as recognize an increase in the average revenue per truck each day. These efficiency gains have a significant impact on bottom line results.”
Revenue, including fuel surcharges, was up 5.1 percent to $107 million for the quarter. The company had reported slightly declining revenue in the second quarter.
For the first three quarters of the year, P.A.M. reported income of $11.3 million, an increase from $4.6 million in the same three quarters of 2013. Revenue was up from $306.2 million to $309.2 million from the first three quarters of 2013 to the same period this year.
Cushman said the company’s Dedicated and Mexico divisions continue to grow while Automotive and Expedited also show strength. Driver shortage is a continuing problem, and Cushman said the company is reviewing wage increases.
“We continue to be very focused on growing the company,” Cushman said. “To this point, our focus has been to achieve that internally, but we are extremely challenged by the driver market. Our ability to attain our driver recruitment and driver retention goals will be vital to growth in top-line revenues. We have had success in both areas and we expect that positive trend to continue.”
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