News Release Details

Strong Yield Contributes to Solid Quarterly Results

OVERLAND PARK, Kan., Aug. 04, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Yellow Corporation (NASDAQ: YELL) reported results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2021. Operating revenue was $1.313 billion and operating income was $27.0 million. In comparison, operating revenue in the second quarter 2020 was $1.015 billion and operating loss was $4.6 million, which included a $6.0 million net gain on property disposals.

Net loss for second quarter 2021 was $9.4 million, or $0.18 per share, compared to net loss of $37.1 million, or $1.09 per share, in second quarter 2020.  

On a non-GAAP basis, the Company generated Adjusted EBITDA of $82.9 million in second quarter 2021, a $45.0 million increase compared to $37.9 million in the prior year comparable quarter (as detailed in the reconciliation below). Last twelve months Adjusted EBITDA as of June 30, 2021, was $216.0 million compared to $183.1 million as of June 30, 2020 (as detailed in the reconciliation below).

“I am pleased with the yield progress in the second quarter and look forward to continued operational efficiencies,” said Darren Hawkins, Chief Executive Officer. “Strong customer demand and an industry-wide shortage of qualified drivers are contributing to tight capacity and a favorable yield environment. Sequentially, LTL revenue per hundredweight increased 7.6% in the second quarter 2021 compared to first quarter 2021 and 16.2% compared to a year ago. This contributed to a nearly 30% increase in second quarter revenue compared to last year when the U.S. economy was severely impacted by the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. With inventories below normal levels and U.S. manufacturing expected to return to full strength once the microchip shortage ends, demand for LTL capacity is positioned to remain strong into 2022.

“Our yield strategy is also helping us manage near-term headwinds from higher purchased transportation expense. We are executing plans to reduce the use of local cartage and over the road purchased transportation and expect to see improvement as we move forward.

“We are making steady progress towards One Yellow and the multi-year transformation remains on schedule. Two of our companies are now operating on One Yellow technology platform with the conversion of the others expected to be completed by the end of the year. Moving to a single technology platform sets the stage for a fully integrated network. I am excited for what One Yellow means for our customers, employees and shareholders. We will go to market as a super-regional carrier with enhanced service in the 1, 2 and 3-day lanes nationwide and provide customers with choice, simplicity, speed, visibility and reliability.

“We are continuing to invest in Yellow with one of the largest capital expenditure plans in Company history. Through the first half of 2021, we have acquired more than 1,800 tractors, 2,200 trailers and 400 containers. The investments are expected to enhance safety, improve fuel efficiency, reduce maintenance expense and augment our sustainability efforts. We maintained our strong liquidity position during the second quarter helping us narrow 2021 capital expenditures guidance range from $450 million to $550 million to $480 million to $530 million,” concluded Hawkins.

Financial Update

• In second quarter 2021, the Company invested $143.8 million in capital expenditures. This compares to $11.7 million in capital expenditures in second quarter 2020.
  

Operational Update

• The operating ratio for second quarter 2021 was 97.9 compared to 100.5 in second quarter 2020.
  
  
• Including fuel surcharge, second quarter 2021 LTL revenue per hundredweight increased 16.2% and LTL revenue per shipment increased 15.8% compared to the same period in 2020. Excluding fuel surcharge, second quarter LTL revenue per hundredweight increased 12.0% and LTL revenue per shipment increased 11.6%.
  
  
• Second quarter 2021 LTL tonnage per workday increased 8.3% when compared to second quarter 2020.   
  

Liquidity Update

• The Company’s available liquidity, which is comprised of cash and cash equivalents and Managed Accessibility (as detailed in the supplemental information provided below) under its ABL facility, was $423.2 million as of June 30, 2021, compared to $302.6 million as of June 30, 2020, an increase of $120.6 million.
  
  
• The Company’s outstanding debt was $1.594 billion as of June 30, 2021, an increase of $684.1 million compared to $909.8 million as of June 30, 2020.
  
  
• For the six months ended June 30, 2021, cash used in operating activities was $12.7 million compared to cash provided by operating activities of $213.6 million in 2020.
  

Key Information – Second quarter 2021 compared to second quarter 2020

(a)   Percent change based on unrounded figures and not the rounded figures presented
* Not meaningful

Review of Financial Results

Yellow Corporation will host a conference call with the investment community today, Wednesday, August 4, 2021, beginning at 5:00 p.m. ET.

A live audio webcast of the conference call and presentation slides will be available on Yellow Corporation’s website www.myyellow.com. A replay of the webcast will also be available at www.myyellow.com.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

EBITDA is a non-GAAP measure that reflects the company’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization expense. Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP measure that reflects EBITDA, and further adjusts for letter of credit fees, equity-based compensation expense, net gains or losses on property disposals, restructuring charges, transaction costs related to issuances of debt, non-recurring consulting fees, non-cash impairment charges and the gains or losses from permitted dispositions, discontinued operations, and certain non-cash expenses, charges and losses (provided that if any of such non-cash expenses, charges or losses represents an accrual or reserve for potential cash items in any future period, the cash payment in respect thereof in such future period will be subtracted from Adjusted EBITDA in such future period to the extent paid). Adjusted EBITDA as used herein is defined as Consolidated EBITDA in our UST Credit Agreements and Term Loan Agreement (collectively, the “TL Agreements”). EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are used for internal management purposes as a financial measure that reflects the company’s core operating performance. In addition, management uses Adjusted EBITDA to measure compliance with financial covenants in our TL Agreements and to determine certain incentive compensation. We believe our presentation of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA is useful to investors and other users as these measures represent key supplemental information our management uses to compare and evaluate our core underlying business results, particularly in light of our leverage position and the capital-intensive nature of our business. Further, EBITDA is a measure that is commonly used by other companies in our industry and provides a comparison for investors to evaluate the performance of the companies in the industry. Additionally, Adjusted EBITDA helps investors to understand how the company is tracking against our financial covenants in our TL Agreements.

EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA have the following limitations:

• EBITDA does not reflect the interest expense or the cash requirements necessary to service interest or fund principal payments on our outstanding debt;
  
  
• Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect the interest expense or the cash requirements necessary to service interest or fund principal payments on our outstanding debt, letter of credit expenses, restructuring charges, transaction costs related to debt, non-cash charges, charges or losses (subject to the conditions above), or nonrecurring consulting fees, among other items;
  
  
• Although depreciation and amortization are non-cash charges, the assets being depreciated and amortized will have to be replaced in the future and EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA do not reflect any cash requirements for such replacements;
  
  
• Equity-based compensation is an element of our long-term incentive compensation program for certain employees, although Adjusted EBITDA excludes employee equity-based compensation expense when presenting our ongoing operating performance for a particular period; and
  
  
• Other companies in our industry may calculate Adjusted EBITDA differently than we do, limiting its usefulness as a comparative measure.
  

Because of these limitations, our non-GAAP measures should not be considered a substitute for performance measures calculated in accordance with GAAP. We compensate for these limitations by relying primarily on our GAAP results and using our non-GAAP measures as secondary measures. The company has provided reconciliations of its non-GAAP measures to GAAP net income (loss) within the supplemental financial information in this release.

Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Exchange Act. Forward-looking statements include those preceded by, followed by or characterized by words such as “will,” “expect,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “should,” “may,” “project,” “forecast,” “propose,” “plan,” “designed,” “estimate,” “enable,” and similar expressions which speak only as of the date the statement was made. Forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain, are based upon current beliefs, assumptions and expectations of Company management and current market conditions, and are subject to significant business, economic, competitive, regulatory and other risks, uncertainties and contingencies, known and unknown, many of which are beyond our control. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. Our future financial condition and results could differ materially from those predicted in such forward-looking statements because of a number of business, financial and liquidity, and common stock related factors, including (without limitation) the risk of labor disruptions or stoppages, if our relationship with our employees and unions were to deteriorate; general economic factors, including (without limitation) impacts of COVID-19 and customer demand in the retail and manufacturing sectors; the widespread outbreak of an illness or any other communicable disease, including the effects of pandemics comparable to COVID-19, or any other public health crisis, as well as regulatory measures implemented in response to such events; interruptions to our computer and information technology systems and sophisticated cyber-attacks; business risks and increasing costs associated with the transportation industry, including increasing equipment, operational and technology costs and disruption from natural disasters, and impediments to our operations and business resulting from anti-terrorism measures; our ability to attract and retain qualified drivers and increasing costs of driver compensation; competition and competitive pressure on pricing; changes in pension expense and funding obligations, subject to interest rate volatility; increasing costs relating to our self-insurance claims expenses; our ability to comply and the cost of compliance with, or liability resulting from violation of, federal, state, local and foreign laws and regulations, including (without limitation) labor laws and laws and regulations regarding the environment and climate change initiatives; the impact of claims and litigation expense to which we are or may become exposed; that we may not realize the expected benefits and costs savings from our performance and operational improvement initiatives; a significant privacy breach or IT system disruption; our dependence on key employees; our ability to finance the maintenance, acquisition and replacement of revenue equipment and other necessary capital expenditures; seasonality and the impact of weather; shortages of fuel and changes in the cost of fuel or the index upon which we base our fuel surcharge and the effectiveness of our fuel surcharge program in protecting us against fuel price volatility; risks of operating in foreign countries; our failure to comply with the covenants in the documents governing our existing and future indebtedness; our ability to generate sufficient liquidity to satisfy our indebtedness and cash interest payment obligations, lease obligations and pension funding obligations; fluctuations in the price of our common stock; dilution from future issuances of our common stock; we are not permitted to pay dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future; that we have the ability to issue preferred stock that may adversely affect the rights of holders of our common stock; and other risks and contingencies, including (without limitation) the risk factors that are included in our reports filed with the SEC, including those described under “Risk Factors” in our annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q.

About Yellow Corporation

Yellow Corporation has one of the largest, most comprehensive logistics and less-than-truckload (LTL) networks in North America with local, regional, national, and international capabilities. Through its teams of experienced service professionals, Yellow Corporation offers industry-leading expertise in flexible supply chain solutions, ensuring customers can ship industrial, commercial, and retail goods with confidence. Yellow Corporation, headquartered in Overland Park, Kan., is the holding company for a portfolio of LTL brands including Holland, New Penn, Reddaway, and YRC Freight, as well as the logistics company HNRY Logistics.

Please visit our website at www.myyellow.com for more information.

Source: Yellow Corporation