UTi Worldwide beats estimates, shares jump

BOSTON (Reuters) - U.S. logistics company UTi Worldwide Inc (UTIW.O) on Thursday reported a quarterly profit that topped Wall Street expectations, factoring out restructuring charges, sending its shares up 10 percent.

The company, which cut its forecast for the just-ended fiscal year in September and again in February, said fourth-quarter profit was $18 million, or 18 cents per share, down from $22.5 million, or 22 cents per share, a year earlier.

Factoring out $6.2 million in restructuring charges, net income would have been $24.2 million, or 24 cents per share. On that basis, analysts had looked for 19 cents, according to Reuters Estimates.

Gross revenue rose 24.5 percent, to $1.18 billion from $951.3 million a year earlier.

"Our costs have grown at a faster pace than net revenue, which along with yield pressure, has led to lower operating margins," Chief Executive Roger MacFarlane said in a press release.

UTi shares were trading up $1.63 at $17.86 on the Nasdaq.

The company in February said it would take cost-cutting steps including quitting its retail distribution business in Africa, exiting loss-making contracts and reduce its global work force by around 7 percent.

"While we have begun to see some benefit from these actions, we expect most of the improvement will begin to be seen in the second half of fiscal 2009," MacFarlane said. The Long Beach, California-based company's 2008 fiscal year ended January 31.

The company in December said Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N), the world's largest retailer, had decided to take in-house a distribution center in Baytown, Texas, that UTi managed, effective March 1.

UTi also said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it would restate its results for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2007 due to accounting errors.

The restatement will reduce its reported 2007 profit by 4 cents per share, 2006 results by 1 cent per share and 2005 by 2 cents per share.

UTI competes with Ryder System Inc (R.N) and Expeditors International (EXPD.O).

So far this year, UTi shares are down about 10 percent, while the Dow Jones U.S. Industrial Transportation Index .DJUSIT is up 7 percent.

(Reporting by Scott Malone; editing by John Wallace and Dave Zimmerman)