Industry News

CN Revenue Drops in 1Q

April 21, 2009 | 05:00 p.m. CDT

Canadian National said its first-quarter profit rose 36 percent after it sold a rail corridor, though its adjusted profit was flat with year-ago results, reports The Associated Press.

CN said it earned 424 million Canadian dollars ($349.6 million), or 90 Canadian cents (74 cents) per share during the quarter that ended March 31, up from 311 million Canadian ($256.5 million) or 64 Canadian cents (53 cents) per share, during the same period last year. CN said that if not for one-time items it would have earned 302 million Canadian dollars ($249 million) or 64 Canadian cents per share (53 cents).

Revenue fell 3.5 percent to almost 1.86 billion Canadian dollars ($1.53 billion), from 1.93 billion Canadian dollars ($1.59 billion) a year ago. CN said it recorded a gain of 135 million Canadian dollars, or 29 Canadian cents per share, from selling a railway corridor to GO Transit in Toronto. It said it also booked expenses of 28 million Canadian dollars, or 6 Canadian cents per share, to acquire the main rail lines of the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway Co., which closed on Jan. 31.

CN said its revenue fell because of "significantly lower volumes in almost all markets as a result of current economic conditions in the North American and global economies." In addition, lower fuel prices reduced the fuel surcharge it had passed along to customers. But the company said the lower Canadian dollar versus the U.S. dollar acted as a "shock absorber" as traffic declined sharply. Carloadings fell 16 percent.

The company reported a 1Q operating ratio of 74.1 vs. 72.9 for the first quarter of 2008.