UPDATE 2-UTi Worldwide posts Q2 below market expectations
* Q2 adj EPS $0.14 vs est $0.17
* Revenue $840.5 mln vs est $846.4 mln
* Shares rise 5 percent (Recasts; adds details, analyst comment, updates share movement)
Sept 3 (Reuters) - Logistics company UTi Worldwide Inc (UTIW.O: Quote, Profile, Research) posted lower-than-expected quarterly results, hurt by continued declines in forwarding and logistics volumes.
However, the company said the environment appeared to be more stable than it had seen in some time.
"Our pipeline is healthy and we have signed significant new business in the quarter, including what we expect to be the largest single freight forwarding win in the company's history, which is scheduled to begin shipping later this month," Chief Executive Eric Kirchner said in a statement.
Shares of the company touched a high of $13.25 before paring some gains to trade up 25 cents at $12.93 Thursday morning on Nasdaq.
"Anecdotes from industry contacts indicate an improvement in freight demand in the last two to four weeks, consistent with seasonality," Robert Baird's Jon Lagenfield said in a note dated Sept. 1.
For the second quarter ended July 31, UTi Worldwide posted net income attributable to the company of $11.8 million, or 12 cents a share, compared with $33.7 million, or 33 cents a share, a year earlier. Continued...
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