November 01, 2023 EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. BB #:100586 today reported financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2023.
Third Quarter Key Metrics:
- Gross profits decreased 28.9% to $626.6 million
- Income from operations decreased 60.5% to $113.5 million
- Adjusted operating margin(1) decreased 1,450 basis points to 17.9%
- Adjusted operating margin – excluding restructuring,(1) decreased 1,070 basis points to 21.7%
- Diluted earnings per share (EPS) decreased 61.8% to $0.68
- Adjusted EPS(1) decreased 52.8% to $0.84
- Cash generated by operations decreased by $420.2 million to $205.2 million
(1) Adjusted operating margin, adjusted operating margin – excluding restructuring and adjusted EPS are non-GAAP financial measures. The same factors described in this release that impacted these non-GAAP measures also impacted the comparable GAAP measures. Refer to pages 11 through 13 for further discussion and GAAP to Non-GAAP Reconciliations.
“As has been well documented by many industry participants and observers, global freight demand continued to be weak in the third quarter,” said C.H. Robinson’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Dave Bozeman. “We are staying focused on what we can control, by providing superior service to our customers and carriers, executing on our plans to streamline our processes by removing waste and manual touches, and delivering tools that enable our customer- and carrier-facing employees to allocate their time to relationship building and exception management. Our focus on delivering quality and improvements to our customers, such as enhanced visibility and increased automation, has been reflected in very positive feedback from customers and validated by net promoter scores this year that are the highest on record for the company, which we believe sets us up well with customers for the eventual positive inflection in the freight market.”
“Our customers value the quality, stability and reliability that we provide, as they work to optimize their transportation needs. This has taken on greater importance to shippers who had exposure to transportation providers whose business models were not financially viable. During my many discussions with customers over the past four months, it’s clear that they prefer partners who have financial strength and can invest through cycles in the customer experience. They also want partners who have the expertise to provide innovative solutions, enabled by technology and people that they rely on to serve as an extension of their team. C.H. Robinson is that partner, with people who have deep expertise in the freight market and longstanding relationships with their customers and carriers. Combined with Robinson’s strong technology and large data set, our people are able to provide innovative tech-enabled solutions powered by our information advantage for the benefit of our customers and carriers. This secret sauce is not easy to replicate with a digital-only solution,” added Bozeman.
“We’re executing on our plans to streamline our processes by removing waste and manual touches, and the result has been meaningful cost reductions and productivity gains across our business that are ahead of our stated targets. Even though I’m pleased with the progress that the team has made, I’ve challenged them to increase our clock speed on decision making and improvement efforts. We’re now driving focus on a handful of concurrent workstreams that are addressing the highest leverage areas to eliminate productivity bottlenecks.”
“Ultimately, our focus on continuously improving the customer and carrier experience and removing waste from our workflows will result in a company that is quicker, more flexible and more agile in solving problems for our customers, providing better customer service and creating operating leverage and profitable growth. I’m excited about the work that we’re doing to reinvigorate Robinson’s winning culture, and I’m confident that together we will win for our customers, carriers, employees and shareholders,” Bozeman concluded.
Summary of Third Quarter of 2023 Results Compared to the Third Quarter of 2022
- Total revenues decreased 27.8% to $4.3 billion, primarily driven by lower pricing in our ocean and truckload services.
- Gross profits decreased 28.9% to $626.6 million. Adjusted gross profits decreased 28.4% to $634.8 million, primarily driven by lower adjusted gross profit per transaction in truckload and ocean.
- Operating expenses decreased 13.1% to $521.3 million. Personnel expenses decreased 21.5% to $343.5 million, primarily due to cost optimization efforts and lower variable compensation. Average headcount declined 13.7%. Other selling, general and administrative (“SG&A”) expenses of $177.8 million increased 9.7%, primarily due to $21.4 million of restructuring expenses, partially offset by decreased purchased and contracted services and decreased legal settlements. The restructuring expenses are primarily related to asset impairments driven by our decision to divest our global forwarding operations in Argentina.
- Income from operations totaled $113.5 million, down 60.5% due to the decrease in adjusted gross profits, partially offset by the decline in operating expenses. Adjusted operating margin of 17.9% declined 1,450 basis points.
- Interest and other income/expense, net totaled $20.7 million of expense, consisting primarily of $21.8 million of interest expense, which increased $1.0 million versus last year due to higher variable interest rates.
- The effective tax rate in the quarter was 11.7% compared to 16.9% in the third quarter last year. The lower rate in the third quarter of this year was driven by lower income before taxes and incremental benefits from foreign tax credits.
- Net income totaled $81.9 million, down 63.7% from a year ago. Diluted EPS of $0.68 decreased 61.8%. Adjusted EPS of $0.84 decreased 52.8%.
Summary of 2023 Year-to-Date Results Compared to 2022
- Total revenues decreased 31.9% to $13.4 billion, primarily driven by lower pricing in our ocean and truckload services.
- Gross profits decreased 30.1% to $2.0 billion. Adjusted gross profits decreased 29.7% to $2.0 billion, primarily driven by lower adjusted gross profit per transaction in truckload and ocean.
- Operating expenses decreased 8.3% to $1.6 billion. Personnel expenses decreased 14.8% to $1.1 billion, primarily due to cost optimization efforts and lower variable compensation. Average headcount declined 8.0%. Other SG&A expenses increased 11.3% to $474.9 million, primarily due to a $25.3 million gain on the sale-leaseback of our Kansas City regional center recorded in the prior year and $22.6 million of restructuring expenses in the current year, partially offset by decreased purchased and contracted services.
- Income from operations totaled $407.2 million, down 63.1% from last year, due to the decrease in adjusted gross profits, partially offset by the decline in operating expenses. Adjusted operating margin of 20.5% decreased 1,850 basis points.
- Interest and other income/expense, net totaled $67.3 million of expense, which primarily consisted of $68.6 million of interest expense, which increased $16.3 million versus last year due to higher variable interest rates. The year-to-date results also included a $5.9 million net loss from foreign currency revaluation and realized foreign currency gains and losses, compared to a $6.6 million net loss last year, driven by foreign currency impacts on intercompany assets and liabilities.
- The effective tax rate for the nine months ended September 30, 2023 was 13.5% compared to 19.2% in the year-ago period.
- The lower rate in the current period was driven by lower income before taxes and incremental benefits from foreign tax credits.
- Net income totaled $294.2 million, down 65.2% from a year ago. Diluted EPS of $2.46 decreased 62.2%. Adjusted EPS of $2.73 decreased 57.0%.
About C.H. Robinson
C.H. Robinson solves logistics problems for companies across the globe and across industries, from the simple to the most complex. With $30 billion in freight under management and 20 million shipments annually, we are one of the world’s largest logistics platforms. Our global suite of services accelerates trade to seamlessly deliver the products and goods that drive the world’s economy. With the combination of our multimodal transportation management system and expertise, we use our information advantage to deliver smarter solutions for our 100,000 customers and the more than 450,000 contract carriers on our platform. Our technology is built by and for supply chain experts to bring faster, more meaningful improvements to our customers’ businesses. As a responsible global citizen, we are also proud to contribute millions of dollars to support causes that matter to our company, our Foundation and our employees. For more information, visit us at www.chrobinson.com (Nasdaq: CHRW).
