XPO announces new CFO, watches for coronavirus impact

XPO Logistics tapped Wyndham Hotel’s former Chief Financial Officer David Wyshner as its own finance chief, the company said Monday.

Wyshner, who was also the CFO of Avis Car Rental, will oversee the company’s plans to sell or spin out some of its business units, the company said in announcing its fourth-quarter earnings results Monday. Wyshner, who was just promoted to be CFO of Wyndham in December, joins XPO on March 2.

“He will certainly be a key member of the team that is leading that review of strategic alternatives,” said CEO Bradley Jacobs, “We were looking for a CFO with good relevant experiences. He’s a well-rounded CFO, he’s tested, proven, lots of experience in divestitures, asset sales and spinoffs”

The company’s shares jumped by more than 3% in after-hours trading after reporting earnings that beat Wall Street expectations on profit, but missed on revenue.

Here’s what Wall Street was expecting, versus what XPO reported, analysts by Refinitiv:

•  Earnings per share: $1.12 adjusted, vs. $1.02 estimated
•  Revenue: $4.14 billion, vs. $4.23 billion estimated

CEO Bradley Jacobs reiterated plans to keep the North American less-than-truckload unit, its shipping service for small loads, which earned 22% of overall revenue in 2019.

Jacobs also highlighted ten “cost and revenue” initiatives the company says has the potential to add $700 million to $1 billion in profit to its bottom line by 2022.

“The percent of space in our trucks we are filling was up about 3.6% higher (In Q4). Each percentage is about $10 million of profit improvement,” said Jacobs, “I’m proud we are able to deliver that great growth in the bottom line and in a weak macro environment where there has not been a lot of external growth.”

XPO operates 8 million square feet of warehouse space in Asia, including more than 1 million square feet in China alone. However, Jacobs says the coronavirus outbreak and travel restrictions haven’t damped demand for logistics.

“We have not seen a noticeable impact as of now,” Jacobs said, “We are watching it. Anything that slows down the global economy is not good for the transport and logistics industry.”

XPO also announced a 5-year agreement to transport auto parts for Mercedes Benz in Europe. XPO logistics shares have jumped by more than 60% over the past 12 months.

The company will hold its fourth-quarter earnings call at 8:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday.