C. H. ROBINSON WORLDWIDE, INC. OWNER S MANUAL 2005 ANNUAL REPORT

Transcription

1 C. H. ROBINSON WORLDWIDE, INC. OWNER S MANUAL 2005 ANNUAL REPORT

2 WELCOME TO C. H. ROBINSON WORLDWIDE, INC. C. H. ROBINSON WORLDWIDE, INC ANNUAL REPORT 2 CONGRATULATIONS on your interest in C.H. Robinson! Read this manual to learn about the features and benefits of being an owner of our company. All of the information that follows in this owner s manual is based on understanding a few essential facts about our people, the heart of our forward-moving, forward-thinking, service-based company. First, our employees are our most important assets; they are the engine that propels this enterprise. Second, our culture emphasizes achievement and measurable results; that s the source of our flexibility in a fast-changing marketplace. Finally, we understand how to treat your investment as our own because many of us are owners, too, giving us the drive to take true ownership in our success. Our company was founded, and continues to operate, on this foundation. We invite you to read this owner s manual for more insight into what we do, how we do it, and our future growth potential. We believe that the more you know about Robinson, the more satisfied an owner you will be. FOR MORE INFORMATION: This is a supplemental guide. For more thorough information, please visit Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Statements in this annual report regarding C. H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. s business which are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see Risk Factors in the Company s Annual Report or Form 10-K for the most recently ended fiscal year.

3 ITEM CHECKLIST / TABLE OF CONTENTS ITEM CHECKLIST Please note that all the following items have been included, along with this C. H. Robinson Worldwide Owner s Manual. 5,776 Employees 159 North American Offices 4 South American Offices 25 European Offices 8 Asian Offices 40,000 Contract Carriers 20,500 Customers 4.4 Million Shipments 8 Brands of Produce 11,661 Phones 7,842 Personal Computers Advanced Systems And Business Processes Unlimited Solutions TABLE OF CONTENTS QUICK START GUIDE LETTER TO OUR FELLOW OWNERS GETTING STARTED Transportation and Logistics Sourcing Information Services PUTTING IT TOGETHER People Customer Relationships Carrier Relationships Information Systems and Processes BASIC OPERATION Branch Network Our Flexible Business Model LONG-TERM MAINTENANCE The Future of C. H. Robinson FINANCIALS C. H. ROBINSON WORLDWIDE, INC ANNUAL REPORT 3

4 QUICK START GUIDE QUICK START GUIDE To immediately enjoy everything C. H. Robinson has to offer, please refer to the following: TRANSPORTATION % of Gross Profits C. H. Robinson is one of the largest third party logistics companies C. H. ROBINSON WORLDWIDE, INC ANNUAL REPORT (Dollars in thousands, except per share data) (1) % change Gross revenues $ 5,688,948 $ 4,341, % Gross profits 879, , % Income from operations 326, , % Net income 203, , % Net income per share Basic $ 1.20 $ % Diluted $ 1.16 $ % Dividends per share $.355 $ % Return on average stockholders investment 28.8% 24.2% 19.1% Diluted weighted average number of common shares outstanding (in thousands) 174, , % Long-term debt $ $ Number of branches, end of year % Number of employees, end of year 5,776 4, % Average gross profits per employee (2) $ 166 $ % (1) On October 14, 2005, the company s shareholders approved a 2-for-1 stock split. All share and per share amounts have been restated to reflect the retroactive effect of the split. (2) Gross profits per employee is a key performance indicator used by management to analyze our productivity, to benchmark the financial performance of our branches, and to analyze impacts of technology and other investments in our business. in the world, and is a global provider of multimodal (truck, air, ocean, and rail) transportation services. As a non-asset based transportation provider, we focus on seeking solutions that work for our customers, rather than on asset utilization. SOURCING 9.3% of Gross Profits When C. H. Robinson began in 1905, our primary business was selling fresh produce. Today, we still procure fresh produce for retailers, wholesalers, and foodservice operators and distributors. We also provide category management, inventory management, and business analysis services. INFORMATION SERVICES 4.3% of Gross Profits C. H. Robinson s information services subsidiary, T-Chek Systems, provides motor carriers with a full range of fuel purchase and technology services, including the T-Card and online information related to fuel purchasing, fuel tax and log audit processing, permits, and driver funds transfer. T-Chek also provides private label processing for fuel distributor networks.

5 QUICK START GUIDE Gross Profits (in millions) Gross Profits (in millions) Gross Profits (in millions) % 5-Year CAGR $760.3 $575.5 $464.7 $411.3 $ % 5-Year CAGR $81.5 $51.8 $50.4 $46.5 $ % 5-Year CAGR $38.0 $33.5 $29.8 $25.9 COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES 196 offices North America, South America, Europe, and Asia 4.4 million shipments in 2005 Flexibility of non-asset based model Local knowledge with international capability 40,000 carrier relationships worldwide 20,500 customer relationships Complete multimodal capability Value-added logistics services COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES Supply chain services Branded products Global sourcing and infrastructure Category management/point-of-sale analysis Inventory management Food safety and quality assurance programs COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES Industry-leading technology Emphasis on flexibility Company focus on transportation MAJOR CUSTOMER SEGMENTS Food and beverage Manufacturing Retail Paper Printed materials MARKETS INCLUDE Retail grocery Foodservice Wholesale food distributors MAJOR CUSTOMER SEGMENTS Truckload carriers Less-than-truckload carriers Private fleets C. H. ROBINSON WORLDWIDE, INC ANNUAL REPORT $21.0

6 QUICK START GUIDE AT A GLANCE FINANCIAL CHARTS Please refer to the following charts regarding Total Gross Profits, Net Income, Diluted Net Income Per Share, and Dividends Per Share. C. H. ROBINSON WORLDWIDE, INC ANNUAL REPORT 6 Gross Profits (in millions) 16.0% 5-Year CAGR (1) 2005 $ $ $ $ $456.6 Diluted Net Income Per Share (2) 23.4% 5-Year CAGR 2005 $ $ $ $ $0.47 Net Income (in millions) Dividends Per Share (2) % 5-Year CAGR $203.4 $137.3 $107.4 $89.8 $ % 5-Year CAGR $0.355 $0.255 $0.180 $0.130 $0.105 (1) Compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) (2) On October 14, 2005, the company s shareholders approved a 2-for-1 stock split. All share and per share amounts have been restated to reflect the retroactive effect of the split.

7 LETTER TO OUR FELLOW OWNERS TO OUR FELLOW OWNERS In many ways, 2005 was an exceptional year. In a period of unprecedented turmoil and volatility in the transportation industry, our financial results exceeded our long-term growth targets, and in fact, we achieved our most successful year financially. We added 970 people, bringing our total employee base to 5,776 worldwide. We expanded our network with the addition of 20 new offices and now have 196 offices in 19 countries. We grew our customer relationships to 20,500 and our carrier relationships to 40,000 worldwide. We also celebrated our 100th anniversary, a tremendous milestone we are all extremely proud of. Robinson is a service company. Many of our employees are owners, and the effort of our people is what drove our terrific results. I want to take this moment to thank them for their hard work in All of our business lines contributed to our strong gross profit growth of 33 percent. Our people continued to work hard and manage our business efficiently, generating 46 percent growth in operating income. Our earnings per share increased just under 47 percent. Our balance sheet and financial position remain very strong, with approximately $350 million in cash and short term investments at the end of 2005 and no long-term debt. We increased our quarterly dividend almost 74 percent to $0.13 per share from $0.075 per share. And while we focus primarily on gross profits as the indicator of the value we bring to the marketplace, our $5.7 billion in gross revenues, 31 percent higher than 2004, is a growth mark that we re also proud of. Yet even though it makes us one of the largest third party providers in the world, it still represents a fairly small portion of the hundreds of billions of dollars that are spent on transportation and logistics within North America, and trillions worldwide. We recognize that we still have a lot of opportunity ahead of us and are as excited as we have ever been about our future and our growth. Our variable cost, non-asset based business model continues to do well for us. Robinson is all about people, service, relationships, and technology. That is the foundation of our company and what drives our success. At the same time, there were additional factors in 2005 that contributed to our great results: strong North American truckload demand and pricing; successful acquisitions that supplemented our growth in sourcing and global forwarding; and our ability to leverage our branch network, to grow our earnings faster than our revenues. C. H. ROBINSON WORLDWIDE, INC ANNUAL REPORT 7

8 LETTER TO OUR FELLOW OWNERS C. H. ROBINSON WORLDWIDE, INC ANNUAL REPORT 8 Our North American truck business represents about 70 percent of our gross profits. Since we have been a publicly traded company, our long-term growth goal for the company overall has been a sustained 15 percent growth for gross profits and earnings. That goal is based largely upon our historical track record and the rate at which we believe we can successfully add offices, add people, and grow transaction volume in our network, while not disturbing our strong standards of service to customers and carriers. In 2005, we had approximately 15 percent growth in our truckload transactions. In addition to the volume growth, however, we also continued to see unprecedented truckload transportation price increases. Prior to 2004, truckload transportation rates generally increased slightly from year to year. In 2005, it is estimated that prices increased, on a percentage basis, in the mid-teens. Truck transportation rate increases have been driven by tight truckload capacity, caused by factors such as driver shortages and hours of service regulations, and by increasing fuel prices. These double-digit rate increases, combined with our transaction volume growth, were the major changes that drove our truckload transportation gross profit growth above our long-term growth target. When we look out into the future, we do not assume general price increases or decreases. We plan for flexibility. We plan to react to the market, and then we work to do the best job we can to service our customers. Our business model and our internal disciplines ensure that we have market-based relationships with both our customers and our carriers. The significant price, supply, and demand changes over the last few years have made what we do more difficult. Our people have had to work very hard to stay on top of volatility in the marketplace, and make sure they are being fair to our customers and carriers. We feel good about the fact that we have been able to maintain our margins and grow our business through this challenging environment. The second factor that contributed to our exceptionally strong results in 2005 was our successful acquisition strategy. While our overall emphasis will continue to be on organic growth, we view acquisitions as an opportunistic way to add value to our network and add value to our shareholders. We are very selective. FoodSource and Epic Roots, two innovative produce marketing and distribution companies, brought important retail customer and supplier relationships, as well as additional organic and labeling expertise, to our sourcing business. Bussini and Hirdes, both European-based freight forwarders, also added significant relationships, as well as geographic expansion to our global forwarding business.

9 LETTER TO OUR FELLOW OWNERS Together these acquisitions added approximately six percent to our overall gross profit growth, and approximately eight percent to our net income. This is somewhat of an estimate because we do integrate new acquisitions fairly quickly and there is significant shared revenue, but by any measure they had a meaningful impact to Robinson s overall performance this year. Finally, we ve talked in the past and have emphasized again this year that when we have high revenue growth, often we can grow our earnings faster than we are able to grow our gross profits. Over the last ten years we ve been successful at continually driving up our operating margins by focusing on productivity, making our network more efficient, and automating wherever possible. One of the key metrics that we analyze is income from operations as a percentage of gross profits, and that went from 33.7 percent in 2004 to 37.1 percent in That type of improvement is really only possible when we are growing our revenues at a high rate, primarily because of our variable, performance-based compensation model. When we achieve high gross profit growth, we can keep the fixed cost component of compensation to a lower percentage and improve our earnings growth and the return to our shareholders. In addition, the significant truckload price increases, mentioned earlier, also contributed to our ability to improve operating margins. Each year, our goal is to hang on to the productivity gains we had from the year before and continue to build upon them. When we look at our model and out into the future, it s important to understand that it is very challenging to create even a tenth of a percent of improvement in our operating margins. We are in a very competitive industry, and our customers and carriers have very high service expectations of us. So we ll continue to strive to leverage our network, but this type of significant improvement is not typical and will be difficult to replicate going forward. Those are the highlights of our strong results in I would like to emphasize again that while we have identified truckload pricing, acquisitions, and network leverage as contributing factors to our outstanding growth, our core foundation of having the right people, providing them performance incentives, and equipping them with superior systems and business processes is fundamentally what drives our success for the long term. Where do we go from here? As many of our owners know, we don t provide specific, short-term earnings guidance. We try to explain our long-term goals and expectations and let you know how we re thinking, so that we can be as helpful as possible in formulating views of the C. H. ROBINSON WORLDWIDE, INC ANNUAL REPORT 9

10 LETTER TO OUR FELLOW OWNERS C. H. ROBINSON WORLDWIDE, INC ANNUAL REPORT 10 future. There are several important considerations we want to share with our fellow owners. First, we believe we have a unique attitude toward pricing in the marketplace. We are a very solutionoriented company in both longer-term contractual business and in shorter-term transactional transportation. We do not make predetermined price adjustments on a corporate basis, but operate on a very decentralized basis so we can respond rapidly to the market and our customers needs. Another important consideration is the fact that although we are always looking for excellent companies to add to our network, we don t plan on acquisitions to achieve our growth goals. And finally, while we continue to look for ways to improve our operations, it s very difficult to anticipate significant annual increases to our productivity. With these factors in mind, along with our historical track record, we keep coming back to our long-term growth goal of 15 percent. We will continue to invest in our foundation of people and technology. We are building our team for the future, and if our growth supports it, we expect to to add approximately 1,000 new employees in We will continue to build our network and expand our market share. We plan to open six to ten new branch offices this year and hope to add others through the right acquisitions. To both our current owners and our prospective owners, we want to thank you for your interest and support of C. H. Robinson. We hope this year s report expands your understanding of our unique company and business model, and heightens your appreciation of the important contributions of our people. They are a hard-working, dedicated, talented group who, in many cases, also happen to be owners. They are invested in our success and I think our results are proof of that. We are confident in our strategy, our position, and our outlook, and look forward to another terrific year. Sincerely, John P. Wiehoff Chief Executive Officer

11 1 GETTING STARTED C. H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. is one of the world s largest supply chain management companies.the company has three business lines: transportation and logistics, sourcing, and information services. C. H. ROBINSON WORLDWIDE, INC ANNUAL REPORT 11

12 CHAPTER 1 Getting Started 1.1 TRANSPORTATION AND LOGISTICS We provide multimodal transportation and logistics services worldwide, C. H. ROBINSON WORLDWIDE, INC ANNUAL REPORT including truckload, less-than-truckload, intermodal, ocean, and air. As a non-asset based transportation provider, we do not own the transportation equipment that is used to transport our customers freight. Our profit or margin is based on the difference between what we charge our customers for services, and what we pay the transportation provider or carrier to transport the freight. SOURCING Our Sourcing business is the buying and selling of fresh produce. This was our original business when we were founded in Much of our logistics expertise can be traced to our significant experience in handling perishable commodities. We purchase fresh produce through our network of produce suppliers. Our customers include produce wholesalers, large grocery retailers, restaurants, and foodservice distributors. Most of the time, we also arrange the transportation of the fresh produce we sell through our relationships with refrigerated carriers. We ve honed our company service levels over 100 years of success. Every day, we focus on working harder and smarter to earn our customers trust and business. In 2005, 20,500 customers trusted us to manage their freight through our 196 branch offices around the world.

13 1 Core Competencies 1. It takes a lot of equipment to transport 4.4 million shipments, as we did in To gain 2 3 access to the equipment to move all that freight, we maintain relationships with about 40,000 motor carriers, railroads, and air freight and ocean carriers around the world. 2. C. H. Robinson is non-asset based, so we can choose the carrier and transportation modes that best accomplish the customer s goals. 3. We offer value-added logistics services supply chain analysis, freight consolidation, core carrier program management, information reporting, category management, and much C. H. ROBINSON WORLDWIDE, INC ANNUAL REPORT 13 more for virtually any type of cargo, from apples to soft drinks to roses to machinery weighing tens of thousands of pounds.

14 CHAPTER 1 Getting Started C. H. ROBINSON WORLDWIDE, INC ANNUAL REPORT INFORMATION SERVICES Our Information Services business is our subsidiary, T-Chek Systems, Inc. T-Chek s customers are motor carriers, for which it provides a variety of management and information services such as fuel management services, funds transfer, fuel and use tax reporting, and driver payroll services. For thousands of carriers and truck stops, T-Chek captures sales and fuel cost data, provides management information to the seller, transfers funds to the truck stop, and invoices the carrier for fuel, cash advances, and our fee. We re striving to be the third party logistics provider of choice for our carriers, offering easy access to a large network of freight and one of the fastest payment cycles in the industry. We are integrating information technology directly with carriers operations and offering an array of carrier services via the Internet.

15 2 PUTTING IT TOGETHER C. H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. is a service company. We provide supply chain management services, but our business is driven by people, relationships, and information. C. H. ROBINSON WORLDWIDE, INC ANNUAL REPORT 15

16 CHAPTER 2 Putting It Together C. H. ROBINSON WORLDWIDE, INC ANNUAL REPORT PEOPLE C. H. Robinson is a service company. Our company s strength lies in our people and our entrepreneurial, achievement-oriented culture. Because the quality of our employees is essential to our success, we are highly selective in our hiring. We choose motivated, service-oriented people from across North America, South America, Europe, and Asia who will thrive in our fast-paced environment. We give our employees a lot of autonomy, and they are empowered early in their careers to make critical decisions. Our compensation system is the foundation of our culture and the primary tool we use to incent and manage our people. We reward profit growth through team-based performance bonuses. We are a service company. The key to our continued future success will be our ability to hire good people, motivate them, reward them appropriately, give them a career path, and equip them with strong productivity tools.

17 3 Employee Development New branch employees go through on-the-job training, developing the necessary skills and customer service philosophy. We expect most new salespeople to start contributing to the success of the branch in a matter of weeks. 2. Each salesperson attends one of our national training meetings, where they receive more instruction and can meet and develop relationships with employees from other branches. 3. Individual salespeople benefit through the growth and profitability of their branch and by achieving personal goals. They can advance in a variety of career paths, including branch management, national sales, and national account management. We have a promote from within philosophy, and fill nearly all branch management positions with current employees. C. H. ROBINSON WORLDWIDE, INC ANNUAL REPORT 17

18 CHAPTER 2 Putting It Together C. H. ROBINSON WORLDWIDE, INC ANNUAL REPORT CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS During 2005, we served over 20,500 customers worldwide, ranging from Fortune 100 companies to small businesses in a wide variety of industries. Our customer relationships reflect a broad spectrum of services and commitments, but each relationship is unique. In all cases, our focus is to provide a high level of service that meets each customer s specific needs. The ultimate goal is to establish long-term relationships with our customers and to grow with them by providing them with a full range of logistics services. FIGURE 1: Major Customers: Industries Served in 2005 Top 100 Customers Represent 37% of Total Gross Profits. 19% 12% 10% 17% 42% Food & Beverage Retail Paper & Paper Related Products Manufacturing Other Robinson has long been known for its strength in spot market transportation, and we also provide more integrated logistics services. For many large shippers, we aggregate transportation capacity, securing seamless access that meets their pricing and service requirements. Providing more integrated solutions is broadening our relationships with many customers. A number of market and environmental factors are driving our expansion into more integrated logistics opportunities, including more aggressive management of inventory and distribution, growing acceptance of outsourcing, globalization of supply chains, and information technology and security needs. In our most integrated business relationships with customers, Robinson assumes a greater responsibility for management of a customer s supply chain. We see supply chains as completely interconnected events, from initial forecasting and planning to raw materials and manufacturing to shipping and delivery to the end user of the product. Along the way, it may require warehousing services, inventory management, distribution, transportation, and more. As fuel prices have risen and affected worldwide transport, there s a new realization about how even small improvements in the supply chain can take a bite out of the total cost of products.

19 Nuts And Bolts Of A Customer Relationship : 1. Our experience, relationships, and information are critical advantages as we manage our customers freight needs in all kinds of environments. 2. As branch employees provide day-to-day transportation and learn more about a customer s operations and supply chain, they often identify opportunities for additional logistics services. 3. In recent years, we have grown by adding new customers and by increasing our volumes with, and providing more services to, our existing customers. C. H. ROBINSON WORLDWIDE, INC ANNUAL REPORT 19

20 CHAPTER 2 Putting It Together C. H. ROBINSON WORLDWIDE, INC ANNUAL REPORT CARRIER RELATIONSHIPS Because we don t own transportation equipment, the success of our business hinges on the strength of our relationships with transportation providers. We currently work with approximately 40,000 transportation companies around the world and continually establish relationships with more good carriers to assure dependable services, favorable pricing, and availability during peak and other shipping periods when demand for transportation equipment is greater than the supply. Our standard contracts do not include volume commitments, and the initial contract rate can be modified each time we confirm an individual load with a carrier. To strengthen and maintain relationships, our salespeople regularly communicate with the carriers serving their region. One of our employees responsibilities is to help carriers increase equipment utilization, reduce empty miles, and reposition equipment. To make it easier and more advantageous for carriers to work with us, we pay promptly, even within 48 hours, in exchange for a discount. We don t work with just any carrier. Each motor carrier who works with us provides proof of license, insurance, and their safety rating, and is monitored to ensure that it has the resources to provide the necessary level of service on a safe and dependable basis.

21 1 2 3 A Sure Way To A Carrier s Heart 1. Our powerful branch network moves millions of shipments a year. Our offices help carriers find the type of freight they re looking for: high-volume logistics contracts that require committed carriers under contract; regular, consistent business that is conducted under pre-established rates; or spot market opportunities that arise from day to day. 2. Fuel is a carrier s secondlargest : expense. T-Chek, our information services subsidiary, provides fuel cards so carriers can capture costs as the driver refuels. The cards also aid in driver retention, one of the most serious problems carriers face. 3. Our Quick Pay program pays carriers faster for the Robinson loads they haul. Through the program, payments are released to carriers within 48 hours of receipt of approved paperwork a great boost to their cash flow. In exchange for faster payments, carriers grant CHRW a discount. C. H. ROBINSON WORLDWIDE, INC ANNUAL REPORT 21

22 CHAPTER 2 Putting It Together C. H. ROBINSON WORLDWIDE, INC ANNUAL REPORT INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND PROCESSES Our proprietary information systems enable us to efficiently communicate, service customers and carriers, and manage more than 4.4 million shipments annually. Employees are linked with each other and with customers and carriers by telephone, fax, Internet, , and/or EDI to communicate about shipment requirements and availability, confirm and bill orders, and process payments. Using our systems, they can look across multiple carriers, customers, and loads to find efficiencies and optimize transportation. They can service customer orders, select the optimal modes, build and consolidate loads, and select routes. Load data is visible to the entire sales team, as well as customers and carriers, enabling our salespeople to select carriers and track loads in progress. Our Internet sites provide information to both customers and carriers and make it easier for them to work with us. Through CHRWonline.com, customers receive rate quotes, contract loads or equipment, obtain in-transit tracking and tracing, and obtain delivery confirmations. Using CHRWtrucks.com, carriers post available equipment, obtain loads, enter pickup and delivery status, and manage settlements for their C. H. Robinson shipments. In-depth reporting gives customers insight on their traffic patterns, product mix, and production schedules, and supports analysis of their own customer base, transportation expenditure trends, and the impact of unplanned freight. FIGURE 2: Core Competencies Understanding The Relationships Between Our Core Competencies. Customer Relationships PEOPLE Business Processes & Technology Carrier/Supplier Relationships