C.H. Robinson’s total revenues up by 5.9% for 2020


For the year ending December 31, 2020, C.H. Robinson reported total revenues increased by 5.9% to $16.2bn, driven primarily by higher pricing in ocean and air services and contributions from the Prime Distribution Services (“Prime”) acquisition. Gross profits decreased by 7.0% to $2.4bn. Whilst adjusted gross profits decreased by 6.7% to $2.4bn, primarily driven by lower adjusted gross profit margins in truckload services, partially offset by contributions from the Prime acquisition and higher adjusted gross profits in air and ocean services. Operating expenses decreased by 3.2% to $1.7bn as income from operations totalled $673.3m, down 14.8% from last year due to a decline in adjusted gross profits.

For the fourth quarter, ending December 31, 2020, the company’s total revenues increased 19.9% to $4.5bn, driven primarily by higher pricing and higher volume across most of our service lines. Gross profits increased by 10.5% to $636.1m. Adjusted gross profits increased 10.7% to $640.6m, primarily driven by higher pricing and higher volume in our Global Forwarding business segment and contributions from the acquisition of Prime.

Total revenues for C.H. Robinson’s NAST segment amounted to $11.3bn, an increase of 0.3% on 2019, whilst its Global Forwarding segment saw revenues increase by 33.2% y-o-y to $3.0bn, primarily driven by higher pricing in both air and sea freight.

Fourth-quarter total revenues for C.H. Robinson’s NAST segment totalled $3.1bn, an increase of 10.8% over the prior year, primarily driven by higher truckload pricing and an increase in less than truckload (“LTL”) shipments. Fourth-quarter total revenues for the Global Forwarding segment increased 71.7% to $1.0bn, primarily driven by higher pricing in ocean across the industry driven by higher demand and higher pricing in air due to reduced air cargo capacity, increased charter flights and larger shipment sizes.

Total revenues for ‘Other’ including Robinson Fresh, Managed Services and Other Surface Transportation amounted to $1.8bn, up 5.7% y-o-y. Robinson Fresh revenues fell by 3.2%, Managed Services saw revenues rise by 13.8% over 2020 and Other Surface Transportation also saw a rise of revenues by 5.2%.

“Due to several factors, including shortages in the number of drivers and available carrier capacity, freight markets remain tight, and we anticipate this will continue for much of 2021. We’re committed to creating better outcomes for our customers and carriers, by delivering industry-leading technology that is built by and for supply chain experts and by leveraging our broad service portfolio and our unmatched combination of experience, scale and information advantage to meet their ever-changing needs,” CEO, Bob Biesterfeld stated.

Source: C.H. Robinson