FleetCor Technologies Inc. (NYSE: FLT) announced Thursday third-quarter net income of $188.8 million, or $2.19 per share, a 16% year-over-year decline compared to 2019.
The Atlanta-based commercial fuel-card and business-payment systems provider also posted third-quarter revenue of $585.3 million, a decrease of 14% compared to 2019.
FleetCor’s third-quarter revenue topped most Wall Street expectations for revenue at $580.8 million, while its earnings per share missed expectations by 46 cents.
The third quarter was a better quarter for the company than the second, said FleetCor Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ron Clarke.
“Q3 clearly a better quarter for us than Q2, with volumes of step rate recovery, client softness rebounded, client retention — even in these wacky times — ticking up a point, sales starting to get back to normal, recovering to 80% of last year,” Clarke said during the company’s Thursday earnings call.
FleetCor sells a range of customized fleet and lodging payment programs and offers card products to purchase fuel, lodging, food, toll, transportation, and related products and services. The company operates in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia.
Clarke said the overall global economy is still recovering slowly from the coronavirus pandemic, which has hurt the company’s foreign sales.
Third-quarter revenue from FleetCor’s fuel-card program decreased 14% to $255.1 million, compared to the same period in 2019.
Fuel transactions revenue declined by 12%, to $113.6 million. Corporate payments revenue declined 11% to $106.5 million.
The United States was FleetCor’s largest market, generating $357 million in revenue during the third quarter, a 13.7% decline compared to 2019.
Third-quarter revenue from Brazil fell 24.5%, to $80 million, while the United Kingdom increased 3%, to $70 million. Other countries generated third-quarter revenue of $78 million.
Because of the uncertainty caused by the pandemic, FleetCor will not be providing a financial outlook for the fourth quarter of 2020, said Charles Freund, the company’s chief financial officer.
“I want to remind everyone that our businesses are very resilient, they have all declined due to the COVID pandemic and they have also recovered substantially from their low points, but due to the uncertainty we are seeing around reopenings versus shutdowns globally, we are still not in a position to provide guidance,” Freund said.
Freund added the company expects to manage expenses 10%-12% below last year in order to balance current profitability with investment for future growth.
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