First look: More weak numbers out of TFI’s US LTL operations

The struggles continue at TFI International’s U.S. less-than-truckload operations, which has at its core the former UPS LTL division that TFI bought in April 2021 – and that CEO Alain Bedard felt compelled on his third-quarter earnings call to insist the company did not regret acquiring. 

The U.S. LTL division at TFI (NYSE: TFII) posted an adjusted operating ratio of 97.3% in the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to 91% in the fourth quarter of 2023. The OR for the group was 92.2% in the third quarter. Revenue per hundredweight excluding fuel, the key yield benchmark, fell to $27.73 from $28.81 a year ago. Operating income at the LTL division including its Canadian operations was $70.3 million, down from $106.2 million. 

The truckload division at TFI saw a big jump in revenue year on year due to the integration of flatbed operator Daseke into the numbers. Revenue grew to $693.2 million from $399.3 million a year earlier. But operating income only rose to $59.7 million from $50.7 million a year earlier. 

Logistics operating income was $42.9 million, down from $54.7 million.

The biggest nonmonetary announcement in the earnings for TFI International might be that the Montreal-based company will re-domicile in the U.S. It did not say what city would be its new home. TFI said about 70% of its operations are in the U.S., presumably owing primarily to that acquisition of UPS Freight.

The adjusted earnings per share at TFI International were $1.19, well below the consensus estimate of $1.58 reported by SeekingAlpha. Revenue of $2.077 billion was also below the SeekingAlpha consensus forecast of $2.18 billion.

Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization was $315.3 million, down slightly from $320.9 million in the corresponding fourth quarter of 2023. But operating income was down far more, to $160.2 million from $198.3 million.

After the earnings release, post-market trading was decidedly negative. At approximately 5:30 p.m., TFI stock was down almost 6% from its close at $127.61. It is down about 12.5% in the past year and almost 5% in the past month.

TFI will hold its earnings call with analysts at 8:30 a.m. Thursday.

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