The Lamest Headline of the Day: YRC Worldwide
May 11, 2012 by Jon C. Ogg
YRC Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ: YRCW) gets the dubious honor of having The Lamest Headline of the Day! This one looks as though it was brought to you right from the Department of Who Frigging’ Cares. To announce that you have been added to the Fortune 500 after brutalizing shareholders in the manner that YRC has is almost insulting. If anything, this shows that being a member of the Fortune 500 does not even take into consideration that a company was as near bankruptcy as this one has been.
It may seem impressive on the surface that formal bankruptcy was avoided here. In reality, the losses for YRC shareholders were so atrocious that the stock issued had two different reverse stock splits. The sub-$6.00 price of today compares to a reverse split-adjusted share price of 32,540.62 back in September of 2009. The company’s most recent balance sheet shows that total stockholder equity is negative by -$431.8 million and its net tangible assets are also negative at -$544.9 million.
Here is what the company’s release states:
“YRC Worldwide Named to 2012 FORTUNE 500 List”
YRC Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ: YRCW) today announced it has been named to the FORTUNE 500 list of the largest U.S.-based companies. YRCW was ranked 487 overall.
Then the company claims over 200,000 customers and a newly optimized network for its largest subsidiary YRC Freight. FORTUNE’s methodology for the FORTUNE 500 is listed as being companies ranked by total revenues for their respective fiscal years that are incorporated and operate in the U.S. and file financial statements with a government agency.
A look at the balance sheet and income statement shows that the revenues for each of the last three years (2011 first) were $4.868 billion, $4.33 billion, and $4.87 billion. The losses in each of those years were (2011 first) -$409.31 million, -$325.8 million, and -$619.4 million.
As far as what to expect ahead, we cannot even make heads or tails of the expectations. Thomson Reuters has estimates of $5.12 billion in sales for 2012 and $5.45 billion in 2013. Earnings estimates are -$21.94 per share in 2012 and -$12.98 per share in 2013. The loss per share was -$196.12 in 2011.
The long and short is that the losses here in earnings and in shareholder value are so great that you have to wonder just how important the Fortune 500 really is.
JON C. OGG
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