Canadian National Railway Co (CNI)

[sumisu]

Canadian National 1Q profit beats expectations

Canadian National 1Q profit grows because of rail corridor sale; shares rise in late trading

The Associated Press

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Canadian-National-1Q-profit-apf-14977651.html?.v=2

Monday April 20, 2009, 5:36 pm EDT

Canadian National Railway Co. said Monday its first-quarter profit rose 36 percent after it sold a rail corridor, though its adjusted profit was flat with year-ago results.

Related Quotes
Symbol Price Change
CNI 39.43 -2.33


The Montreal-based railroad 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.

The company 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.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters were expecting a higher profit of 61 Canadian cents per share on revenue of 1.82 billion Canadian dollars. Analysts typically exclude one-time items from their estimates.

The company 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.

The company 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.

Lower fuel prices "and management's quick response to lower workload" helped operating expenses fall 2 percent, the company said.

Shares of Canadian National fell $2.33, or 5.6 percent, to close at $39.43 on the New York Stock Exchange before the results were released. They rose 7 cents to $39.50 in after-hours trading.