MIAMI (AP) — Truck-leasing company Ryder System Inc. said
Tuesday that its third-quarter net income jumped 33 percent, boosted by
cost cuts and fleet size adjustments.
Ryder also boosted its full-year profit prediction, and its shares rose nearly 6
percent in premarket trading.
The
Miami-based company earned $75.1 million, or $1.47 per share, up from
$56.5 million, or $1.10 per share, in the same quarter last year.
Excluding discontinued operations, the company posted a profit of $64.3 million, or
$1.26 per share, for the recent quarter.
Revenue
was flat at $1.57 billion. Lease and rental revenue rose 2.8 percent to
$693.9 million, but was offset by drops in services and fuel services
revenue.
Analysts, on average, expected a profit of $1.18 per share on $1.62 billion in
revenue, according to a FactSet poll.
Ryder
attributed its better-than-expected profit to improving contractual
revenue growth and strong used vehicle sales, along with cost and rental
fleet size adjustments that began earlier in the year.
Pre-tax
earnings at the company’s fleet management business jumped 21 percent to
$94.3 million, helped by lower compensation-related expenses and growth
in its lease fleet. Revenue at the business increased 1 percent to
$1.12 billion.
Ryder said that despite the current economic
weakness and uncertainty, it expects its profit to continue to grow this
year and boosted its full-year earnings prediction to a range of $3.93
to $3.98 per share. The company previously predicted a range of $3.75 to
$3.90 per share.
Analysts expect a 2012 profit of $3.82 per share.
The
company also issued a fourth-quarter profit guidance of $1.06 to $1.11
per share, while analysts expect earnings of $1.06 per share.
Ryder shares rose $2.57, or 5.9 percent, to $46 in premarket trading.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.