(Reuters) – C.H. Robinson Worldwide missed quarterly estimates for sales and profit on Wednesday as the logistics company struggled with waning demand and lower pricing for its services.
The global shipping industry has grappled with a slowdown in volumes in the last few quarters as high inflation and recession fears dented consumer spending compared to pandemic highs.
With shoppers returning to in-store purchases, logistics firms are faced with the balancing act of matching costs and capacity to lower demand.
Major operators in the sector have deployed aggressive cost-cutting measures to protect margins and sail through the downturn in the freight industry.
Last month, trucking firm J.B. Hunt Transport Services also missed quarterly expectations, hit by weak freight volumes.
The company posted a profit of 90 cents per share in the quarter through June and missed analysts’ average estimate by a cent, as per Refinitiv data.
Its revenue slumped 35% to $4.42 billion compared with expectations of $4.66 billion.
(Reporting by Priyamvada C and Anandita Mehrotra in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai and Arun Koyyur)