Third-quarter bonanza for APC: results surpass Wall Street expectations and buoy company's stock on the NYSE. (American President Co.; New York Stock Exchange)

Increased traffic in the export and intra-Asia trades, coupled with rises in inbound rates, boosted pre-tax profit for American President Cos. (APC) in the third quarter, chairman John M. Lillie reported.

The company posted a small reduction in per-container operating costs.

For the nine-month span, average revenues per FEU rose from $4,008 to $4,125 in the eastbound transpacific; dropped from $3,364 to $3,285 in the westbound transpacific; fell from $2,048 to $1,871 in intra-Asia; and slipped from $1,313 to $1,312 on the domestic stacktrain side.

Average operating cost per FEU decreased from $2,684 to $2,533 for the quarter and from $2,668 to $2,586 for the nine-month period.

As a portion of transportation revenues, the average operating cost per FEU held steady at 86 percent for the third quarter and edged up from 87 percent to 88 percent for the nine months.

For the nine months ended Sept. 17, pretax net earnings excluding Desert Storm residual revenues rose …