UPDATE: CSX 4Q Net Up 6.3% On Higher Revenue; Names New COO And CFO
Tweet PrintAlert
CSX (NYSE:CSX)
Historical Stock Chart
1 Month : December 2011 to January 2012
CSX Corp.'s (CSX) fourth-quarter earnings climbed 6.3% but came in short of Wall Street forecasts, tempered by soft demand for coal transported by the railroad as well as a muted holiday shipping season overall.
The Jacksonville, Fla.-based company also announced the departure of Chief Operating Officer David A. Brown. It didn't specify a reason but said Brown had been replaced by Chief Financial Officer Oscar Munoz, a decision "unrelated to CSX's financial condition, business performance or outlook, all of which are strong."
Fredrik J. Eliasson will replace Munoz as chief financial officer effective immediately, the company said. Eliasson had been vice president of sales and marketing for CSX's chemicals and fertilizer business.
Fourth-quarter freight volume fell 4.3%, although the railroad noted the figure was up about 1.3% excluding an extra week in the year-ago period.
Regardless, volume growth has been anemic in recent months, coming in at 0.6% in the third quarter after slowing from a 3% growth rate in the second quarter and 7% in the first quarter.
Shares were down about 1.9% in after-hours trading, at $22.25. The stock has climbed about 3.8% in the past three months, based on Monday's close at $22.69.
CSX reported a profit of $457 million, or 43 cents a share, up from $430 million, or 38 cents a share, a year earlier. The per-share figures reflect the company's three-for-one stock split, which went into effect in June.
Revenue rose 4.8%, to $2.95 billion.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected per-share earnings of 44 cents on revenue of $2.99 billion.
Volume in CSX's big coal business, which accounts for nearly 25% of its overall business, slumped 8.1% in the fourth quarter, although the railroad said the figure was off only 2.6% excluding the extra week in the year-ago period. It attributed the decline to soft demand for coal from East Coast electric utility plants, at a time of elevated coal stock-piles and low natural gas prices.
In addition, the railroad's intermodal volume, meaning goods packed in shipping containers and transported by combinations of trains, trucks and seagoing freighters, slumped 5.2% in the quarter, although it came in flat excluding the extra year-ago week.
Intermodal volume accounts for about 35% of CSX's overall business. The railroad said U.S. demand for imported consumer goods was relatively soft during the fourth quarter, noting that retailers "had a more moderate peak season" in 2011 than in 2010.
-By Bob Sechler, Dow Jones Newswires; 512-258-1690; bob.sechler@dowjones.com
