Mullen soars to $1B in revenues

CALGARY — Mullen Group Income Fund almost doubled its net annual income and revenue on the strength of its booming oilfield trucking operations, the company stated in its 2006 financial report.

Mullen Group Income Fund — Canada’s third-largest trucking company as reported in Today’s Trucking’s 2007 Top 100 For-Hire carrier List — announced its consolidated revenues topped $1 billion as compared to $591.7 million for 2005 for the twelve months ended December 31, 2006.

The company’s net annual income has jumped 83 percent to $128.1 million, or $1.86 per unit, from $70 million.

“This 83 percent increase in net income is mainly attributable to the income generated by the acquisitions made in 2006 and the full inclusion of
the acquisitions made in 2005,” the company stated. “The increase was also attributable to modest price and volume increases in the preexisting businesses in the trucking/logistics segment offset by a reduction of revenue in some of the Oilfield Services businesses.”

Even with that decline in drilling, Mullen reported that its oilfield segments brought in $604.3 million in total revenues in 2006 as compared to the $400.4 million from trucking.

In 2006 Mullen bought several trucking and equipment services companies, including Carl Brady Trucking and Brady Sand & Gravel Ltd.; Canadian Dewatering Ltd.; Battle River Oilfield Construction and Hartwell Oilfield Services; Pe Ben Oilfield Services; and C. Steen Trucking, among a others. It also bought Kleysen Transport, a large intermodal trucking company in Winnipeg.

“By most standards one would have to conclude that it was a great year,” said Stephen Lockwood, President and Co-CEO of Mullen. “Our operating businesses leveraged to capital spending, infrastructure and oilsands development as well as crude hauling and production services performed reasonably well during the quarter as did most of our business units in the Trucking/Logistics
segment.”

Meanwhile, Chairman Murray Mullen will once again take on the role of Co-CEO after former co-chief executive Pat Powell resigned from that position earlier this year.