USAK - USA Truck Reports First Quarter 2019 Results

USA Truck, Inc. (NASDAQ: USAK), a leading capacity solutions provider, today announced its financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2019.

For the quarter ended March 31, 2019, consolidated operating revenue was $134.0 million compared to $125.0 million for the prior-year period. Base revenue, which excludes fuel surcharge revenue, was $118.4 million compared to $110.3 million for the 2018 period. The Company reported net income of $1.5 million, or $0.18 per diluted share for the first quarter 2019 and adjusted net income of $2.0 million, or $0.24 per diluted share, compared to net income and adjusted net income of $1.0 million, or $0.13 per diluted share and $1.1 million, or $0.14 per diluted share, respectively, for the same quarter in 2018. The Company's first quarter 2019 consolidated operating ratio was 97.1%, compared to 98.1% in the comparable 2018 quarter.

President and CEO James Reed commented, "The first quarter of 2019 marks the 2^nd consecutive first quarter of profitability and the most profitable first quarter since 2006. Add that to seven consecutive quarters of profitability, and our leadership team can drop the ‘new’ moniker - this team continues to improve results quarter after quarter and year after year. The first quarter was important in the making of USA Truck’s narrative about our ability to compete, our self-help story, and our position in the marketplace.

The quarter presented a complex environment with dropping spot rates that put pressure on our logistics business, a continued challenging driver market, increasing fuel prices, relative seasonally soft first quarter demand, and another unusually difficult weather season. Despite that, USA Truck grew revenue 7.2% and trucking revenues grew 20.4%. Even after all of the above, our team increased earnings per share by $0.05 per diluted share, or 38.5%, and adjusted earnings per share by $0.10 per diluted share, or 71.4%, year over year.

The team here is unwavering in its commitment to continue to improve results and outpace market forces in our operational and financial measures. It was a tough quarter, but we persevered and produced a result that demonstrates progress toward becoming one of the best performing companies in our sector. USA Truck is, indeed, back and we are eager to achieve our full potential.”

Trucking: For the first quarter of 2019, Trucking operating revenue (before intersegment eliminations) increased $16.1 million, or 20.4%, to $94.9 million, compared to the first quarter of 2018. This increase was primarily due to a 11.7% increase in base revenue per loaded mile. Trucking adjusted operating income was $2.3 million for the 2019 period, reflecting an adjusted operating ratio of 97.2%, compared to an adjusted operating loss of $0.6 million and an adjusted operating ratio of 100.8% for the comparable 2018 period. This represents an improvement of $2.1 million year-over-year in operating income and a 360 basis point improvement in operating ratio.

Trucking operations showed the following during the first quarter 2019:

• Base revenue per available tractor per week increased $129 per week, or 4.0%, when compared to the first quarter of 2018, and decreased $72 per week, or 2.1% sequentially, primarily due to a seasonally robust 4^th quarter freight environment and a seasonally slower 1^st quarter freight environment.
• Base revenue per loaded mile increased 11.7% to $2.244 for first quarter 2019 from $2.009 in first quarter 2018, and decreased $0.117, or 5.0% sequentially, in line with seasonal norms.
• Loaded miles per available tractor per week decreased 112 miles, or 6.9%, when compared to the first quarter of 2018, but increased sequentially by 44 miles per tractor, or 3.0%. Deadhead percentage for first quarter 2019 increased 70 basis points year-over-year, but improved 200 points sequentially.
• The average seated tractor count for the first quarter of 2019 was 1,767, which represented a 15.2% increase compared to our first quarter 2018 average of 1,534, and a 2 tractor increase sequentially over the fourth quarter 2018 average of 1,765. Average unseated tractor percentage for first quarter 2019 was 7.8% compared to 5.3% for the first quarter of 2018 and increased 150 basis points sequentially. These changes were primarily related to the increasingly challenging driver recruiting environment, combined with the OEM equipment delays late last year.

USAT Logistics: Operating revenue (before intersegment eliminations) was $41.4 million for the first quarter of 2019, a decrease of $5.3 million, or 11.4% year-over-year. Operating income decreased $0.5 million, or 19.0% year-over-year. We continue to deepen carrier and customer relationships regardless of market dynamics.

• Gross margin dollars decreased 2.5%, or $0.2 million year-over-year, to $7.7 million for the first quarter 2019, and increased 18.3%, or $1.2 million sequentially.
• Gross margin percentage for the first quarter of 2019 increased to 18.5% from 16.9% when compared to the same quarter in 2018, and increased 350 basis points sequentially from 15.0% for the fourth quarter of 2018.

• Revenue per load decreased 14.9%, or $0 per load year-over-year, and 5.1%, or $0 per load, over fourth quarter of 2018.
• Load count increased 4.1%, or 1,098 loads year-over-year, and 1.2%, or 317 loads, over fourth quarter of 2018.

Segment Results

The following table includes key operating results and statistics by reportable segment:

Balance Sheet and Liquidity

As of March 31, 2019, total debt and lease liabilities was $182.0 million, total debt and lease liabilities, net of cash (“Net Debt”)^(a), was $181.4 million and total stockholders’ equity was $83.3 million. Net Debt to Adjusted EBITDAR^(a) for the trailing twelve months ended March 31, 2019 was 2.6x giving proforma effect to the Davis Transfer acquisition. The Company had approximately $50.0 million available to borrow under its Credit Facility as of March 31, 2019.

First Quarter 2019 Conference Call Information

USA Truck will hold a conference call to discuss its first quarter 2019 results on Friday, April 26, 2019 at 8:00 AM CT / 9:00 AM ET. To participate in the call, please dial 1-844-824-3828 (U.S./Canada) or 1-412-317-5138 (International). A live webcast of the conference call will be broadcast in the Investor Relations section of the Company’s website www.usa-truck.com, under the “Events & Presentations” tab of the “Investor Relations” menu. For those who cannot listen to the live broadcast, the presentation materials and an audio replay of the call will be available at our website, www.usa-truck.com, under the “Events & Presentations” tab of the “Investor Relations” menu, or may be accessed using the following link: https://services.choruscall.com/links/usak190426.html. A telephone replay of the call will also be available through May 3, 2019, and may be accessed by calling 1-877-344-7529 (U.S.), 1-855-669-9658 (Canada), or 1-412-317-0088 (International) and by referencing conference ID #10130809.

^(a) About Non-GAAP Financial Information

In addition to our GAAP results, this press release also includes certain non-GAAP financial measures, as defined by the SEC. The terms base revenue, “Net Debt”, “EBITDAR”, “Adjusted EBITDAR”, “Adjusted operating ratio”, “Adjusted operating income (loss)", "Adjusted net income (loss)”, and “Adjusted earnings (loss) per diluted share”, as we define them, are not presented in accordance with GAAP.

The Company defines Net Debt as total debt, including insurance premium financing and lease liabilities, net of cash. The Company defines EBITDAR as net income (loss), plus interest expense net of interest income, provision for income tax expense (benefit), depreciation and amortization and rent. The Company defines Adjusted EBITDAR as EBITDAR plus non-cash equity compensation, restructuring, impairment and other costs, severance costs included in salaries, wages and employee benefits, and transaction costs related to acquisition. Adjusted operating ratio is calculated as operating expenses excluding restructuring, impairment and other costs, severance costs included in salaries, wages and employee benefits and amortization of acquisition related intangibles, net of fuel surcharge revenue, as a percentage of operating revenue, excluding fuel surcharge revenue. Adjusted operating income (loss) is defined as operating income (loss) excluding restructuring, impairment and other costs, severance costs included in salaries, wages and employee benefits, amortization of acquisition related intangibles, and transaction costs related to acquisition. Adjusted net income (loss) is defined as net income (loss) excluding restructuring, impairment and other costs, severance costs included in salaries, wages and employee benefits, amortization of acquisition related intangibles, and transaction costs related to acquisition. Adjusted earnings (loss) per diluted share is defined as earnings (loss) per diluted share plus the per-share impact of restructuring, impairment and other costs, severance costs included in salaries, wages and employee benefits, and transaction costs related to acquisition, plus or minus the per share tax impact of those adjustments using a statutory income tax rate. The per-share impact of each item is determined by dividing it by the weighted average diluted shares outstanding. These financial measures supplement our GAAP results in evaluating certain aspects of our business. We believe that using these measures improves comparability in analyzing our performance because they remove the impact of items from our operating results that, in our opinion, do not reflect our core operating performance. Management and the board of directors focus on Net Debt, EBITDAR, Adjusted EBITDAR, Adjusted operating ratio, Adjusted operating income (loss), Adjusted net income (loss), and Adjusted earnings (loss) per diluted share as key measures of our performance, all of which are reconciled to the most comparable GAAP financial measures and further discussed below. We believe our presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures is useful to investors and other users because it provides them the same information that we use internally for purposes of assessing our core operating performance.

Net Debt, EBITDAR, Adjusted EBITDAR, Adjusted operating ratio, Adjusted operating income (loss), Adjusted net income (loss), and Adjusted earnings (loss) per diluted share are not substitutes for their comparable GAAP financial measures, such as total debt, net income, cash flows from operating activities, operating ratio, diluted earnings per share, or other measures prescribed by GAAP. There are limitations to using non-GAAP financial measures. Although we believe that they improve comparability in analyzing our period to period performance, they could limit comparability to other companies in our industry if those companies define these measures differently. Because of these limitations, our non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered measures of income generated by our business or discretionary cash available to us to invest in the growth of our business. Management compensates for these limitations by primarily relying on GAAP results and using non-GAAP financial measures on a supplemental basis.

Pursuant to the requirements of Regulation G and Regulation S-K, we have provided reconciliations of EBITDAR, Adjusted EBITDAR, Adjusted operating ratio, Adjusted operating income (loss), Adjusted net income (loss), and Adjusted earnings (loss) per diluted share to the most comparable GAAP financial measures at the end of this press release.

Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

Financial information in this press release is preliminary and based upon information available to the Company as of the date of this press release. As such, this information remains subject to the completion of our quarterly review procedures, and the filing of the related Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, which could result in changes, some of which could be material, to the preliminary information provided in this press release.

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements generally may be identified by their use of terms or phrases such as “seek,” “expects,” “estimates,” “anticipates,” “projects,” “believes,” “hopes,” “plans,” “goals,” “intends,” “may,” “might,” “likely,” “will,” “should,” “would,” “could,” “potential,” “predict,” “continue,” “strategy,” “future” and terms or phrases of similar substance. Forward-looking statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of our management and are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified, which could cause future events and actual results to differ materially from those set forth in, contemplated by, or underlying the forward-looking statements. Accordingly, actual results may differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. Readers should review and consider the factors that may affect future results and other disclosures by the Company in its press releases, Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made. We disclaim any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect actual results or changes in the factors affecting the forward-looking information, except as required by law. In light of these risks and uncertainties, the forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this press release might not occur. All forward-looking statements attributable to us, or persons acting on our behalf, are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement.

References to the “Company,” “we,” “us,” “our” and words of similar import refer to USA Truck, Inc. and its subsidiary.

About USA Truck

USA Truck provides comprehensive capacity solutions to a broad and diverse customer base throughout North America. Our Trucking and USAT Logistics divisions blend an extensive portfolio of asset and asset-light services, offering a balanced approach to supply chain management including customized truckload, dedicated contract carriage, intermodal and third-party logistics freight management services. For more information, visit usa-truck.com or usatlogistics.com.

This press release and related information will be available to interested parties at our investor relations website, http://investor.usa-truck.com.

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