Sales and profits boost for XPO Logistics
XPO’s revenue rose 12.3 per cent last year to £17.3 billion, while adjusted EBITDA was up 14 per cent to $1.56 billion.
Chairman and chief executive Bradley Jacobs said: “For the full year, we delivered 12.3 per cent revenue growth, 9.3 per cent organic growth and $1.56 billion of adjusted EBITDA – up 14.3 per cent over 2017. However, we missed our fourth quarter forecast for adjusted EBITDA, primarily due to headwinds in France and the UK and a loss of profit in the postal injection business with our largest customer.
In the fourth quarter, XPO’s logistics segment generated revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, a ten per cent increase on 2017 led by rising demand for e-commerce logistics globally, and by the consumer packaged goods and food and beverage sectors in North America and the fashion sector in Europe.
Operating income for the segment fell to $42 million, from $52 million in the fourth quarter o f2017. The decrease in operating income primarily reflects higher depreciation expense from prior capital investments associated with new business wins and higher restructuring costs to improve future profitability.
Transport: The company’s transport segment generated revenue of $2.83 billion for the quarter, compared with $2.78 billion for the same period in 2017.
Operating income for the transport segment decreased to $106 million in the quarter, compared with $131 million for the same period in 2017.
Looking ahead, Jacobs said: “We expect that our adjusted EBITDA growth this year will be in the range of 6 per cent to 10 per cent. This anticipates the impact of our largest customer substantially downsizing its business portfolio with us starting in the first quarter, as well as our more cautious view of Europe.”
