FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX) Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Mike Lenz: Okay, Joe, well, in my remarks I mentioned how one of the drivers of the margin expansion and cost control at Ground was lower linehaul expense. So we moved a lot of high-cost ad hoc external linehaul spend into our scheduled network as we optimize that and lower rates on the plan linehaul purchased transportation, so again, it’s all part of the broader optimization of the network holistically, both pickup and delivery, linehaul, as well as the sorting facility operations.

Operator: The next question will come from Bruce Chan with Stifel. Please go ahead.

Bruce Chan: Hey, thanks and good evening, and congrats Mike on the retirement. Just wanted to ask about the LTL side, since we haven’t talked about it too much. You recently had a large competitor announced some material solvency concerns and I just wanted to see what the playbook here is if we do see a major competitor exit, would you rethink some of the facility closures and furloughs at that point or even just the stronger-than-expected LTL market?

Mike Lenz: Sure and thanks for that, Bruce. But yes, on the LTL side, look, you’ve seen how fast the team reacted to declining volume environment earlier in the year and we still we’re expanding margins that accelerated, so that was more challenging. So, look, we will continue to look to optimize the facilities. It’s a holistic perspective, so the 29 facilities, were smaller ones that weren’t the most efficient, so as we lean into what could be a demand recovery, that volume could be accommodated within the larger facilities and that just has that much more incremental contribution as and when that comes back.

Operator: And the final question will come from Amit Mehrotra with Deutsche Bank. Please go ahead.

Amit Mehrotra: Thanks. Hi, everyone. Mike, I know there’s a lot of questions on the long-term 12-month period, that’s hard, I get it, but maybe help us calibrate expectations for the near-term, do you expect Express and Ground profit to be up in the next quarter? I know their seasonality, but the question, there’s obviously DRIVE savings? And then, Raj, the decision to go external for the CEO search that obviously wasn’t lost upon me that external criteria, that’s a big deal for FedEx, obviously and I’m wondering if you can talk about what your — what the Board — what you’re trying to achieve there in terms of hiring somebody from the outside, which really hasn’t happened before for such a senior position. Thank you.

Mike Lenz: All right. This is Mike. So first, I’ll reiterate, as I mentioned earlier, freight margins will be down for the year and that will be most pronounced in Q1. And at Express, as we saw the significant inflection in demand very late in the first quarter of last year. so Express will see this smallest year-over-year margin change in Q1 relative to the rest of the year, so I’ll leave it at that and go from there.

Raj Subramaniam: And Amit, yes, first of all, let me again thank Mike for just incredible work over the last 18-years and particularly in the last three and we have a fantastic finance team and a great organization. From our succession planning, we are looking at somebody who has deep financial expertise, but also strong operational capabilities, and help lead FedEx through our DRIVE transformation program. So again, thank you for your question.

Operator: This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to management for any closing remarks. Please go ahead.

Raj Subramaniam: Thank you, operator. Before we close, I want to give Mike an opportunity to say a few words.