Crawford reports decreased revenue in 2009 Q1

Crawford & Company has reported net income for 2009 Q1 was US$3.1 million, as compared to US$9.1 million in the same quarter in 2008.
Revenues, net income and diluted earnings per share in 2009 Q1 were negatively impacted by a number of items including increased defined benefit pension expense, the impact of foreign currency changes and restructuring changes, the company said.
The international operations segment reported a decline in first quarter revenues of 14.8% to US$90.9 million from US$106.7 million.
“Though better than expected, our first quarter 2009 operating results are reflective of the current global economic conditions that are negatively impacting nearly every corporation. While our reported consolidated revenues and earnings are down year-over-year, there are bright spots within our business,” Jeffrey Bowman, CEO of Crawford & Company said in a release. “Our International Operations segment continued to exhibit organic growth as revenues were up 7% on a constant dollar basis, led by our Canadian, European and Asia-Pacific regions.  The volume of securities class action settlements has been a challenge for us in our Legal Settlement Administration segment as that aspect of our business is in a down cycle,” he continued. 
“However, we have seen an increase in the volume of bankruptcy administration contracts that we have won and we are actively pursuing emerging opportunities in this component of the market.”