Covenant Transportation Group, Inc. (CVTI)

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CHATTANOOGA, Tenn., Feb. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Covenant Transportation Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVTI) announced today financial and operating results for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2008.

Overview

For the quarter, the Company reported freight revenue of $143.9 million and a net loss of $39.8 million, or ($2.83) per basic and diluted share, including $33.6 million of impairment charges. On a non-GAAP basis, without impairment charges, the Company's net loss would have been $6.2 million, or ($0.44) per basic and diluted share. Almost 85% of the Company's loss related to impairment charges that did not affect the Company's liquidity or cash flow for the quarter. These impairment charges included a $24.7 million non-cash charge to write off the goodwill associated with the acquisition of Star Transportation in 2006, and a $9.0 million, after-tax write-down of revenue equipment carrying values for tractors currently held for sale or in-use which are expected to be traded or sold in 2009 and 2010. There was no tax benefit associated with the nondeductible goodwill impairment charge.