TrueBlue Inc. (NYSE: TBI) reported revenue rose 2% in the third quarter, but declined 6% on an organic basis amid a difficult operating environment as well as cutbacks in use by large customer Amazon. Third-quarter revenue fell just 3% organically when excluding Amazon. In addition, TrueBlue announced a rebranding of staffing divisions aimed to be complete in the third quarter of next year.

“The operating environment has been difficult, and negatively impacted the quarter,” CEO Steve Cooper said in a conference call with analysts. “Our organic revenue, excluding Amazon, declined 3% in Q3. As the quarter developed, our organic revenue trends, excluding Amazon, worsened, with July being flat, August down 3%, and September down 5%.”

TrueBlue also reported Amazon is insourcing more of its logistics operations, and the online retailer will not be outsourcing contingent labor in its delivery business. TrueBlue forecast revenue from Amazon will represent $166 million this year, down from $354 million last year.

TrueBlue has provided contingent workers at Amazon’s large-scale fulfillment centers, including the seasonal ramp-up in workers from September to December, Cooper said in a conference call with analysts. This represented 13% of TrueBlue’s revenue in 2005. It has also provided workers for Amazon’s delivery stations; this represented $35 million in revenue year-to-date, but this work is expected to end.

Revenue from staffing services at TrueBlue fell 1% in third-quarter, or 7% on an organic basis.

In its managed service operations, which includes RPO and MSP solutions, TrueBlue reported third-quarter revenue rose by 63% due to organic growth and acquisitions, including the acquisition of Aon Hewitt’s RPO business in January for $72 million in cash. Managed service revenue rose 5% on an organic basis, excluding acquired business.

Also yesterday, TrueBlue discussed its branding. The company announced PeopleReady will be the new brand for its Labor Ready, Spartan and CLP divisions. The company announced a $4.3 million noncash impairment charge this quarter for the writeoff of the CLP and Spartan trade names.

Quote

“It is kind of that part of the cycle where the large companies are tightening first,” CEO Steve Cooper said in a conference call with analysts. “They have held back on their own hiring and they have held back on some of their temporaries. We have not seen large layoffs yet but we’ve definitely seen some cautionary tales or signs in the largest customers.”

Guidance

TrueBlue expects Q4 revenue to be down 17% to 15% — down 20% to 18% for staffing services and up 50% to 60% for managed services.

Share price and market cap

Shares in TrueBlue fell 6.63% to $18.67 in early afternoon trading today. The company had a market cap of $768.76 million, according to Yahoo.