CAI International, Inc. Reports Results for the Fourth Quarter and Full Year of 2017

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 14, 2018-- CAI International, Inc. (CAI) (NYSE: CAI), one of the world’s leading transportation finance and logistics companies, today reported results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2017.

Highlights

• Net income for the fourth quarter of 2017 was $36.6 million, or $1.81 per fully diluted share, compared to $0.6 million, or $0.03 per fully diluted share, in the fourth quarter of 2016.
• Net income for the fourth quarter of 2017 included a tax benefit of $16.9 million associated with the recently enacted Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the Act), and a non-recurring, non-cash tax charge of $1.1 million. Excluding the net tax benefit of $15.8 million, adjusted net income for the fourth quarter of 2017 was $20.7 million, or $1.03 per fully diluted share¹.
• Net income for the year ended December 31, 2017 was $72.1 million, or $3.68 per fully diluted share, compared to $6.0 million, or $0.31 per fully diluted share, in the year ended December 31, 2016.
• Lease-related revenue for the fourth quarter of 2017 was $74.6 million, an increase of 30% compared to the fourth quarter of 2016, and 8% compared to the third quarter of 2017.
• Lease-related revenue for the year ended December 31, 2017 was $267.8 million, an increase of 15% compared to the year ended December 31, 2016.
• Average utilization for our owned container fleet during the fourth quarter of 2017 was 99.0% (on a CEU basis) compared to 94.3% for the fourth quarter of 2016, and 98.2% for the third quarter of 2017. Current utilization is 99.2%.
• During the fourth quarter of 2017 we leased out 243 new railcars and have commitments to lease out a further 564 new cars in the first half of 2018.
• Average railcar utilization during the fourth quarter of 2017, excluding new railcars not yet leased, was 87.1% compared to 94.1% for the fourth quarter of 2016, and 89.3% for the third quarter of 2017.
• During the fourth quarter of 2017, CAI issued approximately 890,000 shares of its common stock through an at-the-market offering for net proceeds of $29.1 million, or $32.81 per average share issued.

Additional information on CAI's results, as well as the state of the industry, is available in a presentation posted today on the "Investors" section of CAI's website, www.capps.com.

Victor Garcia, President and Chief Executive Officer of CAI, commented, “We are very pleased with the exceptional performance of our company during the fourth quarter and the fundamentals of the business remain strong. Excluding the tax benefit from the recently enacted Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and the non-recurring, non-cash tax charge, we reported net income per fully diluted share of $20.7 million, or $1.03 per share. Our results were driven by the ongoing momentum in our container leasing business, which reported average utilization of 99% during the quarter. We benefited from continued investment during the quarter at lease rates that remained attractive, and also from gains on the sale of containers as we looked to maximize the sale price of our available idle equipment. For the full year we invested $569 million on equipment, of which $487 million was related to containers.

“Our rail segment continues to work through a difficult market environment. However, during the fourth quarter we experienced increased momentum in leasing our railcars. During the quarter we leased out 243 new railcars and have commitments to lease out a further 564 new cars in the first half of 2018. We continue to see increased inquiry for railcars across various equipment categories, although lease rates remain below our targeted levels due to continued aggressive pricing from competitors. We believe rail velocity amongst Class 1 railroads has decreased and that customers are looking for additional equipment due to economic growth in the United States and the slowing of rail velocity in the United States rail network. We are becoming more optimistic about the opportunities for our rail segment due to the expected increased economic growth in the United States in 2018. We also believe that our rail segment will benefit if there is increased level of manufacturing and distribution activity as a result of companies increasing their investment in the United States due to the regulatory and tax changes that have been enacted.

“Our logistics business continued to work through the integration of our intermodal and truck brokerage operation. The segment as a whole reported a loss for the quarter due to lost productivity as a result of the hurricane disruptions in the southeastern United States during the quarter and reduced activity with some of our truck brokerage customers. Nonetheless, our international NVOCC and freight forwarding business had growing profitability in the quarter and full year as compared to the same periods in 2016. We are proceeding with the integration of our domestic logistics operations and are seeing increased momentum as we gain new customers and increase volumes with existing customers. Trucking capacity remains very tight in the United States as a result of the implementation of electronic logging and the continued strength of the United States economy. We think that tightness in capacity will continue in 2018 and are focused on working with customers to meet their transportation needs. Beyond individual segment results, we continue to see opportunities to cross-market assets and customers between our container leasing, rail and logistics segments.”

Mr. Garcia, concluded, “We enjoyed record earnings in 2017 and expect 2018 to be a very strong demand year for containers as the world economy continues to expand and lessors continue to operate with high utilization. Offsetting the impact of strong demand in the coming year is the expectation of increased competition from container equipment lessors who are active in the market, lower expected gain on sale of equipment due to a lack of equipment availability and higher expected interest costs. We expect interest costs to increase due to ongoing equipment investment in 2018 and, more importantly, due to the expected higher floating and fixed interest rates in 2018.”

¹ Refer to the “Reconciliation of GAAP Amounts to Non-GAAP Amounts” and “Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures” set forth below.

Conference Call

A conference call to discuss the financial results for the fourth quarter of 2017 will be held on Wednesday, February 14, 2018 at 5:00 p.m. ET. The dial-in number for the teleconference is 1-888-398-8098; outside of the U.S., call 1-707-287-9363. The call may be accessed live over the internet (listen only) under the “Investors” section of CAI’s website, www.capps.com, by selecting “Q4 2017 Earnings Conference Call.” A webcast replay will be available for 30 days on the “Investors” section of our website.

Earnings Presentation

A presentation summarizing our fourth quarter and full year 2017 results is available on the “Investors” section of our website, www.capps.com.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This press release contains non-GAAP financial measures, and includes net income and earnings per share adjusted to reflect the impact of a non-recurring tax benefit and a non-recurring tax charge. These measures are not in accordance with, or an alternative for, generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, and may be different from non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies. We believe the presentation of non-GAAP financial measures provides useful information to management and investors regarding various financial and business trends relating to our financial condition and results of operations, and that when GAAP financial measures are viewed in conjunction with non-GAAP financial measures, investors are provided with a more meaningful understanding of our ongoing operating performance. Non-GAAP financial measures are not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for GAAP financial measures. To the extent this release contains historical non-GAAP financial measures, we have also provided a reconciliation to the corresponding GAAP financial measures for comparative purposes.

About CAI International, Inc.

CAI is one of the world’s leading transportation finance and logistics companies. As of December 31, 2017, CAI operated a worldwide fleet of approximately 1.3 million CEUs of containers, and owned a fleet of 7,172 railcars that it leases within North America. CAI operates through 23 offices located in 14 countries including the United States.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding future events and the future performance of CAI, including but not limited to, the statements regarding management's business outlook on the container leasing business, management's outlook for growth of CAI’s railcar leasing investments and the outlook of our logistics business. These statements and others herein are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results of operations and other performance measures to differ materially from current expectations including, but not limited to, utilization rates, expected economic conditions, expected growth of international trade, availability of credit on commercially favorable terms or at all, customer demand, container investment levels, container prices, lease rates, increased competition, volatility in exchange rates, growth in world trade and world container trade, the ability of CAI to convert letters of intent with its customers to binding contracts, potential to sell CAI’s securities to the public and others.

CAI refers you to the documents that it has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016, its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and its Current Reports on Form 8-K. These documents contain additional important factors that could cause actual results to differ from current expectations and from forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Furthermore, CAI is under no obligation to (and expressly disclaims any such obligation to) update or alter any of the forward-looking statements contained in this press release whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless required by law.

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Source: CAI International, Inc.

CAI International, Inc.
Tim Page, 415-788-0100
Chief Financial Officer
tpage@capps.com