ABX Air, the US domestic airline which flies largely for DHL, has reported pre-tax profits of $36million for 2006, up 19% on the previous year.
Net earnings were $90.1 million, compared to $30.3 million in 2005, after including anon-cash income tax benefit of $54 million. The income tax benefit added $0.92 to net earnings perdiluted share, which stood at $1.54 for 2006.
Revenues for the year decreased, however, by 14% to $1.26 billion, from $1.46 billion in2005, due to lower revenues from DHL.
ABX Air’s revenues from DHL fell by over $218 million for the year and nearly $100 million to$286.4 million in Q4, from $384 million during the same quarter in 2005.
This was due to DHL assuming management of its line-haul trucking operations from ABX Air inMay last year, as part of the Deutsche Post subsidiary’s streamlining of its loss-making NorthAmerican operations.
ABX Air president and CEO Joe Hete was upbeat about 2007, though, despite the falling revenuefrom DHL. “We finished strong in 2006, with earnings gains and positive operating cash flow fromsupport of our largest customer, DHL, and from our own rapidly growing air charter operations,” hesaid. “Those gains provide a solid platform for making still further progress in our businessesduring 2007.”
ABX Air was spun off when DHL acquired Airborne Express. It provides domestic cargo flightsfor DHL Express in the USA as well as package handling, sorting, warehousing, line-haul logisticsand maintenance services at DHL’s US air hub at Wilmington and 18 other regional sorting hubs.
