Earnings up, revenue down at Ryder

Ryder System Inc. has announced second-quarter earnings of $34.7, up 18% compared to the year-earlier period. However, the company said its revenue of $1.2 billion for the quarter was down 1% from compared to last year.

President & CEO Gregory T. Swienton said revenue was impacted by continuing soft economic conditions in the U.S., which led to reduced transportation miles run within all business segments, and volume reductions within some sectors of the Supply Chain Solutions business segment.

Ryder's revenue for the first half of 2003 was $2.39 billion, up 1% from 2002, and earnings before accounting changes for the six months ended were $55.6 million, up 20% from last year.

Commercial rental revenue for the second quarter of 2003 grew 5% compared with the year-earlier period, marking the third consecutive quarter of year-over-year rental revenue improvement, the company said.