Kirby reports Q4 adjusted EPS 67c, consensus 65c

Reports Q4 revenue $730.165M, consensus $714.06M. David Grzebinski, Kirby’s President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "Kirby’s fourth quarter earnings showed significant growth year-over-year driven by improved fundamentals in both businesses. Looking forward into 2023, the outlook for marine transportation and distribution and services is very favorable, and we expect continued growth in earnings during the year. In inland marine, we experienced steady market conditions with barge utilization rates in the 90% range and pricing increases on term contract renewals in the low teens year-over-year. As anticipated, the efficiency of our operations declined in the fourth quarter due to low water conditions on the Mississippi River and the onset of winter weather conditions, which contributed to a 147% increase in delay days as compared to the third quarter. Despite these headwinds, inland marine showed continued improvement in margins with operating margin improving into the low teens."