Margins improve as revenue grows 32 percent, EBITDA hits $117.9 million
    CEVA Logistics said its core profit jumped 26 percent in the third quarter over the same period a year ago to $117.9 million as revenue soared 32 percent and business grew sharply from the second quarter.
    CEVA said its forwarding margins improved from earlier in the year, when the Netherlands-based supply chain management company struggled along with other logistics operators to keep up with rapid growth in shipping prices.
    A recovery in the automotive business, along with a 37 percent year-over-year gain in North America revenue, pushed gross revenue up 32 percent to $2.5 billion.
    That was a 4.4 percent improvement in revenue over the second quarter, but the earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization grew 32 percent from the second quarter to the first, signaling that CEVA was able to push more of the recovering demand to its bottom line.
    “The actions we have taken to recover Freight Management margins and our ongoing focus on Contract Logistics profitability have resulted in a quarter … performance which gives us confidence that the full year will be in line with our expectations,” said John Pattullo, CEVA’s CEO.
    Patullo said the European business was helped by a large new contract with Turkish retailer Migros, which the company expects to produce some $82 million in annual revenue. That contact, CEVA said, “started to deliver profit in the quarter.”

Source: JOC