CH Robinson Q12022 revenue up 42% on higher price and volume

Nasdaq-listed global logistics platform CH Robinson reported total revenue 42% to $6.8 billion for the first quarter ended March 31, 2022, primarily due to higher prices and increase in the volume of services.

Adjusted gross profit increased 29% to $906 million, adjusted operating margin increased 630 basis points to 38.1%, diluted earnings per share (EPS) increased 60% to 2, $05, according to an official statement.

“In our first quarter, we delivered record quarterly earnings,” said Bob Biesterfeld, President and CEO, CH Robinson. “The sequential improvement was driven by the significant increase in operating margin in our North American Surface Transportation (NAST) business) as we improve the health of our contracted truckload business, continue to grow our volume and improve the profitability of our less than full truck loads (LTL).Our global shipping team continued to provide excellent service to our customers and work with our carriers, bringing more business to our platform. finally, our Robinson Fresh, Managed Services and Europe Surface Transportation businesses all improved their growth and operating revenues year-over-year.”

NAST revenue increased 28% to $4 billion due to higher truckload and LTL prices and increased truckload shipments. NAST adjusted gross profit increased 20% to $506 million.

Global transit revenue nearly doubled (909%) to $2.2 billion due to higher prices and increased volume for sea and air services, reflecting strong demand, market share gains market and limited capacities. Adjusted gross profit increased 50% to $322 million.

“Ocean Adjusted Gross Margin increased 64% driven by a 52% increase in Adjusted Gross Margin per shipment and a 7% increase in volume. Air Adjusted Gross Margin increased 34% % on a 10% increase in metric ton shipped and adjusted gross margin per metric ton.”

Outlook 2022
“As questions persist about the impact on global economic growth of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, rising energy prices and inflationary pressures, among other impacts, we believe our global suite of multimodal services, our growing digital platform, and our resilient and flexible non-asset-based business model will continue to deliver strong financial results throughout the cycle,” Biesterfeld said. “We will continue to benefit from our investments in products and technology while providing opportunities to integrate our services to help our customers solve their complex global supply chain challenges. I’m excited about the first results of the enhancements that were rolled out in February for our Navisphere Carrier product. We will continue to build on our customer-centric commitment by continuing to invest in smart, customer- and operator-focused products, and we will launch several new products that we believe will benefit our customers and operators. . continue to develop the most powerful supply chain platform.”

The company returned $251 million to shareholders in the first quarter of 2022, including $177.7 million in common stock repurchases and $72.9 million in cash dividends.

Capital expenditures totaled $26 million during the quarter. Capital expenditures for 2022 are expected to be $90-100 million in technology investments in the digital platform.