Acquisition trail paved with gold for TransForce

MONTREAL, (July 30, 2003) — Canadian trucking giant TransForce has announced that last year’s acquisition of Canpar and the Besner group of companies fueled financial growth for the second quarter this year.

Despite operating in what it calls a “challenging transport environment,” TransForce announced revenues reaching $374.7 million for the 26-week period ending June 30. That’s up from the $254.7 million reported for the same period a year ago. Net income was $18.6 million ($0.29 per unit fully diluted), compared to the $12.8 million ($0.26 per unit fully diluted) reported last year.

“Our growth is being driven by the company’s acquisition strategy, which has added quality operations to our growing network,” said president and CEO Alain Bédard. “TransForce has continued to make steady progress notwithstanding a series of challenging factors which have added to the cost of operations. Not the least of these issues is the strength of the Canadian dollar, which has impacted our transborder business. Further, unusually harsh climatic conditions throughout the winter months, coupled with a sudden spike in fuel prices, had a definitive effect on our bottom line in the first half of this year.”