Textainer Q3 Earnings Decline

(RTTNews) - Lessor of shipment containers Textainer Group Holdings Limited (TGH) Tuesday reported a drop in earnings for the third quarter. The company had incurred higher operating expenses that offset increase in revenue.

Earnings declined to $40.1 million, or $0.71 per share, from $50.7 million, or $0.99 per share, a year ago. For certain smaller lessees in default, the company decided to record a $4.7 million impairment of containers. In addition, the company incurred a $4.3 million bad debt expense in connection with a customer that filed for bankruptcy.

On an average, eleven analysts polled by Thomson Reuters estimated the company's earnings to be $0.86 for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.

"Our underlying business fundamentals were solid, as we achieved more than 8 percent growth in revenue and EBITDA compared to the year ago quarter," said Philip Brewer, CEO. For the third quarter, adjusted EBITDA increased to $106.4 million from $97.4 million a year earlier. Revenues increased to $132.6 million from $122.3 million a year earlier.

With regard to results for the fourth quarter, Brewer said, "Our fleet now approaches 3 million TEU, a major milestone. We have started to see signs of a slight pick-up in demand, and are pleased with our market position. Operationally, we expect performance to be flat to slightly down in the fourth quarter supported by stable utilization, which remains high by historic standards, coupled with the stability provided by having more than 80 percent of our fleet on long-term and finance leases."

Currently the stock is trading down 0.05 percent, or $0.02, at $37.85 on the NYSE.