TrueBlue Inc. (NYSE: TBI) reported Wednesday that second-quarter revenue fell 33% year-over-year to $247 million, above the $229 million consensus estimate according to Reuters Estimates. The Tacoma WA-based industrial staffing firm reported it closed 36 branches in the first quarter.

Same branch revenue year-over-year declines for April, May, and June were 31%, 29%, and 24%, respectively. The company’s last acquisition was at the end of April of 2008, according to CEO Steve Cooper.

Cooper suggested the federal government’s stimulus package was not a substantial driver of revenue for the quarter. â€Å"The bulk of this stimulus money has yet to be released and it appears at this point most of these projects will not even start until early 2010,â€ÂVbCrLf he said in a conference call with analysts.

Gross margin narrowed to 29.5% from 29.8% in the year-ago quarter.

TrueBlue reported second-quarter earnings per share of $0.09, higher than the consensus estimate of a $0.04 loss per share. Third-quarter guidance of earnings between $0.10 and $0.15 per share beat the consensus estimate of $0.05 earnings per share.

The company guided to third-quarter revenue between $267 million to $277 million, above the $253 million consensus estimate.

The Tacoma WA-based company's brands include Labor Ready, Spartan Staffing, CLP Resources, PlaneTechs and TLC.

TrueBlue Inc. (NYSE: TBI)
For the second-quarter ended June 26, 2009, compared with the same period in the previous year.
Revenue: $247 million, -33%
Net income: $16.7 million, -78%