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Air Freight Forwarder Takes Off Following IPO - Houston Business Journal, May 2, 1996
A local air freight forwarding firm is planning to build a new $4.5 million facility that will house its corporate headquarters near Houston Intercontinental Airport. Eagle USA Airfreight, Inc., is fresh from an initial public stock offering that netted the company about $34.5 million. Eagle USA stock has jumped since it began trading on Wall Street last December. The company completed its offering at $16.50 a share, and the stock was trading at $30.87 a share this week. A portion of the funds will be used to construct Eagle USA's new home on roughly 20 acres on Vickery Drive, north of the Sam Houston Parkway near the airport. The facility will include 60,000 square feet of office space and an additional 45,000 square feet to be used for warehouse operations, says Kshanti Morris, Administrative Manager for Eagle USA. Ms. Morris says that the two-story building will serve as home base for Eagle USA's 200 Houston employees and will have enough room for an expected 40% gain in employment over five years. The forwarding firm expects the new facility to be under construction by early June, with an estimated start-up 18 months later. "We are going to get competitive bids and try to aggressively control the cost of the building," Morris says. The company, which has yet to receive a final city permit to build on the site, currently operates out of a location in the cargo area of the airport. Because of the rapid employment gains the last couple of years, some of the firm's employees work at a site on Beltway 8 as well, Morris says. "We're spread out all over the place right now because of our tremendous growth over the last two years," she explains. Growth is something the company has contended with since founder James R. Crane opened the doors in 1984. Since launching its first air transportation terminal in Houston 11 years ago, Eagle USA has expanded its network to include 45 cities throughout the United States. Eight of the terminals have been inaugurated since the company completed its public offering in December. The terminals, says Crane, are equipped with customer service centers that enhance revenues in each city. "Our goal is anywhere we can generate revenues of $200,000 a month, we're going to open an office," he says, adding that there are 72 markets nationwide that can produce the desired revenues. Although Eagle USA transports packages of all sizes, the company concentrates on shipments of more than 50 pounds and does not own its own fleet of transportation vehicles. The firm has grown historically through expansion of its domestic air freight forwarding client base. As Eagle USA has expanded nationally, the firm has broadened its services to include local pickup and delivery and truck brokerage services. More expansion is expected. Crane, Eagle USA's president and chairman, says proceeds from the public offering will be used to fund internal expansion and acquisitions in the near future. For the three months ended March 31 -- Eagle USA's first full quarter as a publicly traded company -- net profits grew 47% to $2.1 million. Overall revenue increased 37%, to $39 million, over the same quarter a year ago. Net revenue, which subtracts direct transportation costs, was up 48% to $18 million. Earnings added up to 23 cents a share, slightly better than the 20 cents a share the company reported for the same period a year ago.
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Sherry Amberg
Intercontinental Airport
Voice: (281) 821-4456
© 1997 Eagle USA |