ICT Holdings' 2012 Sales Spiked 430 Percent

JOC Staff | Mar 12, 2013 12:48PM EDT

ICT Holdings reported record sales in 2012 rose more than 430 percent compared with 2011. The privately owned Chicago-area company did not release total revenue or earnings data.

For 2013, the Illinois-based logistics, trucking and transportation company said in a written statement that it is exploring additional options for expansion and more satellite offices, as well as other business builders, such as a green fleet that could be powered by natural gas. ICT recently opened a new satellite location in Fayetteville, Ark.

“Last year was significant for us,” said Patrick Sacor, CEO and chairman of ICT Holdings, in a written statement. “It started off with the opening of our new headquarters in Glendale Heights, was enhanced further by opening up our repair facility and was capped with the opening our satellite office in Fayetteville, which we then expanded to include our refrigerated truck division.”

In addition, ICT opened new divisions in 2012, including the flatbed and refrigerated division. ICT intends to add another 20 trucks to its refrigerated division by the end of April.

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Mullen Group's Profit Rises 9.6 Percent in 2012

JOC Staff | Feb 21, 2013 12:02PM EST

Mullen Group reported its profit for 2012 was $130.9 million, up 9.6 percent from $119.4 million in 2011.

Annual revenue was a record $1.43 billion, rising 2.9 percent from $1.39 billion in 2011. The year-over-year gain was driven primarily by revenue increases in the first and second quarters of 2012, compared with the same quarters in 2011, which were somewhat offset by a decreased revenues in the third and fourth quarters of 2012, compared with the same quarters in 2011, the transportation company said in a written statement.

Net income in the fourth quarter of 2012 was $21.8 million, falling 54.1 percent from $47.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Quarterly revenue was $346.1 million, falling 12.2 percent from $394.1 million in the same quarter in the previous year. The decrease in revenue was primarily because of decreased revenue experienced in the oilfield services segment, which reported a $47.7 million reduction in revenue in the fourth quarter of 2012 compared with the same period in 2011.

“What I am particularly pleased with, in addition to our record operating results, is the validation that our business model works very well, as is evidenced in the strength of Mullen Group’s balance sheet, which includes $122.8 million in cash,” said Murray K. Mullen, chairman and CEO, in a written statement.

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U.S. Rail Imports From Mexico Up 18.2 Percent in January

JOC Staff | Mar 29, 2013 10:54AM EDT

U.S. cross-border imports from Mexico.

Imports by rail from Mexico into the U.S. showed a large increase in January 2013, jumping over 18 percent to $2.57 billion from $2.17 billion in January 2012, according to data obtained from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

Despite the year-over-year gain, imports dropped 17.2 percent or $532 million from the month before. Since November, the value of rail imports in this trade lane has dropped by 24 percent or $809 million. In 2012, the value of rail imports from Mexico to the U.S. rose by over 14 percent from 2011.

The value of U.S. imports by truck from Mexico in January 2013 inched up 0.7 percent to $14.39 billion year-over-year and rose 9.8 percent or $1.28 billion from the level seen in December 2012. The value of imports by truck in this lane was up almost 9 percent year-over-year in 2012.

Exports by truck from the U.S. to Mexico grew in January, rising 7 percent year-over-year and 22.5 percent month-to-month to $12.24 billion. January’s increase almost negated the 23.9 percent decline in the preceding two months. In 2012, the value of exports by truck rose 10.3 percent year-over-year.

The value of rail exports to Mexico fell 7.6 percent in January from the year before to $2.09 billion, although it did rise 2.6 percent or $54 million from the level seen in December 2012. The value of exports by rail grew 11 percent year-over-year in 2012.

BTS noted in a press release last week that five of the top 10 U.S. states that took part in surface trade with Mexico in 2012 saw double-digit increases over 2011.

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Calif. jobless rate rises to 12 percent in July - BusinessWeek

businessweek.com — The unemployment rate in California climbed again, hitting 12 percent in July as the state added just 4,500 payroll jobs for the month, officials said Friday. 4 days ago View in Crawl 4

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