TFI International Inc. (NYSE:TFII) Q3 2023 Earnings Conference Call October 24, 2023 9:00 AM ET

Company Participants

Alain Bedard - Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer

Conference Call Participants

Ravi Shanker - Morgan Stanley

Thomas Wadewitz - UBS

Ken Hoexter - Bank of America

James Monigan - Wells Fargo

Jordan Alliger - Goldman Sachs

Kevin Chiang - CIBC

Brian Ossenbeck - JPMorgan

Scott Group - Wolfe Research

Konark Gupta - Scotia Capital

Bascome Majors - Susquehanna

Elliot Alper - TD Cowen

Cameron Doerksen - National Bank Financial

Andrew Cox - Stifel

Benoit Poirier - Desjardins Capital Markets

Operator

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by. Welcome to TFI International's Third Quarter 2023 Results Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. Following the presentation, we will conduct a question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] Please be advised that this conference call will contain statements that are forward-looking in nature and subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Also, I would like to remind everyone that this conference call is being recorded on Tuesday, October 24th, 2023.

I will now turn the call over to Alain Bedard, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of TFI International. Please go ahead, sir.

Alain Bedard

All right. Thank you, operator, and thank you, everyone, for joining us this morning. Yesterday, after market close, we've released our third quarter 2023 results. With weaker demand conditions persisting throughout the quarter, we're proud of our solid execution which reflects continued adherence to our operating principles.

As I mentioned before, our talented team understands the importance of profitability and cash flow, reacting quickly to market shifts and focusing even more intensely on the fundamentals when trade volume weakens.

We view this underlying focus on profitability and cash flow as strategically important to the TFI International growth story, allowing us to consistently invest in the business, pursue M&A always in a disciplined manner and return excess capital to our shoulders whenever possible, which, as you know, is one of our guiding principle.

Taking a look at our third quarter results, we generated operating income of just over $200 million reflecting an operating margin of 12.3%. This compares to the prior year's $318 million with a 17.1% margin.

Adjusted net income of $136 million compares to $ 181 million the prior year and adjusted EPS of $1.57 was down from $2.01. Regarding net cash from operating activities, we generated $279 million during the second quarter. And in terms of free cash flow, which we view as strategically important, we produced nearly $200 million.