Expeditors of Washington : Reports Fourth Quarter 2015 EPS of $0.61 Per Share1

Expeditors International of Washington, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPD) today announced fourth quarter 2015 financial results including the following highlights compared to the same quarter of 2014:

• Diluted Net Earnings Attributable to Shareholders per share increased 20% to $0.61
• Net Earnings Attributable to Shareholders increased 15% to $114 million
• Operating Income increased 13% to $178 million
• Net Revenues² increased 3% to $536 million and yields expanded 426 basis points to 33.6%
• Airfreight tonnage volume decreased (1)% and ocean container volume decreased (2)%
• Revenues decreased (10)% to 1.6 billion

“As the strength of our results show, we have adapted well to a rapidly changing environment to produce net revenue yields that are among the best in our history,” commented Bradley S. Powell, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. “We generated these strong results even though both air and ocean volume growth softened in the latter part of the year, and average sell rates came under pressure. Despite those dynamics, our people proved adept at taking advantage of opportunistic buy rates to increase operating profit and produce a fourth quarter operating income to net revenue margin in excess of 33%. In the fourth quarter, we continued to benefit from available ocean and air carrier capacity and favorable spot market buying opportunities, even as our revenues declined on lower average sell rates and volumes, as a result of slower market conditions. It’s no surprise that global uncertainty has made an increasingly interconnected marketplace more unpredictable, and we expect rate volatility to continue for some time. Looking forward, we are aware of the uncertainties and challenges with the global economy and global trade, and how they may impact the comparisons to our 2015 financial results.”

Jeffrey S. Musser, President and Chief Executive Officer, added, “The best year in the Company’s history doesn’t happen by accident. Throughout 2015, we further implemented our strategic plan to align more closely with opportunities and focus on growing our businesses. While we believe we benefited in the first half of the year from some unquantifiable increase in airfreight because of the West Coast labor dispute, we were adversely impacted by a softening in rates and volumes in the second half of the year. These shifting dynamics required our people to do what they do best, which is drive efficiency while providing the highest level of customer service. Through their efforts, we demonstrated how we are able to expand our margins by going after profitable business and gaining market share. I couldn’t be more proud of the energy and the entrepreneurial spirit at Expeditors. That culture has enabled us to grow and achieve a new Company best. We’ve grown deliberately and organically, investing in our people and our systems to make us more efficient and profitable than ever before in our history. I thank all of our employees for their dedication to making this our best year ever.”

“This was also a year of record returns to shareholders,” Mr. Musser continued. “In 2015, we paid out more than $135 million in dividends and repurchased nearly $630 million in stock. Our disciplined business model, combined with the strength of our balance sheet, has given us the flexibility to invest in profitable growth while also returning capital to investors. While our first priority will always be investing for growth in our business, we are dedicated to accomplishing both.”

Expeditors is a global logistics company headquartered in Seattle, Washington. The Company employs trained professionals in 185 full-service offices and numerous satellite locations located on six continents linked into a seamless worldwide network through an integrated information management system. Services include the consolidation or forwarding of air and ocean freight, customs brokerage, vendor consolidation, cargo insurance, domestic time-definite transportation services, purchase order management, warehousing and distribution and customized logistics solutions.

________________________

¹Diluted earnings attributable to shareholders per share.

² Non-GAAP measure calculated as revenues less directly related operating expenses attributable to the Company's principal services. See reconciliation on the last page of this release.

NOTE: See Disclaimer on Forward-Looking Statements on the following page of this release.

_______________________

³Non-GAAP measure calculated as revenues less directly related operating expenses attributable to the Company's principal services. See reconciliation on the last page of this release.

⁴Includes a $6 million recovery of legal and related fees in the fourth quarter of 2015.

During the three- and twelve-month periods ended December 31, 2015, the Company repurchased 4.5 million and 13.1 million shares of common stock at an average price of $47.66 and $47.95 per share, respectively. During the three- and twelve-month periods ended December 31, 2014, the Company repurchased 1.7 million and 13.1 million shares of common stock at an average price of $45.13 and $42.05 per share, respectively.

_______________________

Investors may submit written questions via e-mail to: investor@expeditors.com. Questions received by the end of business on February 26, 2016, will be considered in management's 8-K “Responses to Selected Questions” expected to be filed on or about March 11, 2016.

Disclaimer on Forward-Looking Statements:

Certain portions of this release contain forward-looking statements which are based on certain assumptions and expectations of future events that are subject to risks and uncertainties, including comments on uncertainties and challenges with the global economy and global trade, ability to adapt to a rapidly changing environment, availability of ocean and air carrier capacity, favorable spot market buying opportunities, rate volatility, benefits from our strategic plan, and ability to improve efficiency, expand margins and gain market share. Actual future results and trends may differ materially from historical results or those projected in any forward-looking statements depending on a variety of factors including, but not limited to, our ability to maintain consistent and stable operating results, future success of our business model, ability to perpetuate profits, changes in customer demand for Expeditors’ services caused by a general economic slow-down, customers’ inventory build-up, decreased consumer confidence, volatility in equity markets, energy and fuel prices, political changes, foreign exchange rates, regulatory actions or changes or the unpredictable acts of competitors and other risks, risk factors and uncertainties detailed in our Annual Report as updated by our reports on Form 10-Q, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Net Revenues (Non-GAAP measure)

We commonly refer to the term “net revenues” when commenting about our Company and the results of its operations. Net revenues are a Non-GAAP measure calculated as revenues less directly related operations expenses attributable to the Company's principal services. We believe that net revenues are a better measure than are total revenues when analyzing and discussing our effectiveness in managing our principal services since total revenues earned as a freight consolidator include the carriers' charges to us for carrying the shipment, whereas revenues earned in other capacities include primarily the commissions and fees earned by us. Net revenue is one of our primary operational and financial measures and demonstrates our ability to concentrate and leverage purchasing power through effective consolidation of shipments from customers utilizing a variety of transportation carriers and optimal routings. Using net revenues also provides a commonality for comparison among various services. The following table presents the calculation of net revenues.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160223005604/en/