CAI International, one of the world's leading lessors of intermodal freight containers, has reported results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2011.

Net income was $12.9m for the fourth quarter of 2011, compared to $10.5m for the fourth quarter of 2010, an increase of 23%. Net income was $50.2m for the year ended December 31, 2011, compared to $28.4m for the comparable period in 2010, an increase of 77%.

Total revenue for the fourth quarter of 2011 was $36.2m, compared to $25.2m for the fourth quarter of 2010, an increase of 44%. Container rental revenue for the fourth quarter of 2011 was $32.0m, compared to $21.4m for the fourth quarter of 2010.

Finance lease income for the fourth quarter of 2011 increased to $1.1m, from $0.4m in the fourth quarter of 2010. As expected, average fleet utilization decreased slightly due to normal seasonality from 98.1% in the third quarter of 2011 to 96.5% in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Total revenue for the year ended December 31, 2011 was $125.7m, compared to $77.9m in 2010, an increase of 61%. Container rental revenue for the year ended December 31, 2011 was $106.7m, compared to $64.9m in 2010, an increase of 64%.

Finance lease income for the year ended December 31, 2011 increased to $3.7m, from $2.0m in 2010.

Victor Garcia, chief executive officer of CAI, said: "As a result of continued growth in global containerized trade, we took delivery of more than $415m of equipment during the year, a record level for CAI. Most of this investment in equipment has already been placed on long-term leases at per diem rates that are significantly higher than in 2010. Our utilization for the year averaged 97.6% and we finished the year with utilization of 95.3%."

Garcia continued: "We are optimistic in regards to the 2012 prospects for the container leasing industry in general and for CAI in particular. We expect demand for containers to increase during the second quarter of 2012, leading to an improvement in the utilization of our existing fleet and an increase in demand for the leasing of newly built containers."

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