Marten Transport Q3 Profit Down

(RTTNews) - Marten Transport Ltd. (MRTN) Tuesday reported a drop in profit for the third quarter, as a growth in revenues were offset by higher operating costs. Both earnings and revenues fell short of expectations.

Marten Transport's third-quarter profit dropped to $7.7 million or $0.23 per share from $8.0 million or $0.24 per share last year. On average, seven analysts polled by Thomson Reuters estimated earnings of $0.25 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.

Operating revenues, consisting of revenue from truckload and logistics operations, increased 2.7 percent to $171.6 million from $167.1 million last year. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $177.91 million for the quarter.

Operating expenses as a percentage of operating revenue, was 90.7 percent for the third quarter, compared with 89.9 percent last year.