Genesee & Wyoming, Inc. (Ticker: GWR)
announced that its board of directors
approved a 3 for 2 stock split. Stock surges.......
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Genesee & Wyoming's shares rally
Higher quarterly results, 3-for-2 split spark buying
MarketWatch
Last Update: 4:57 PM ET Feb 14, 2006
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Shares of Genesee & Wyoming Inc. rose sharply Tuesday, gaining as much as 17%, after the freight railroad operator reported a jump in fourth-quarter earnings while announcing asset sales as well as a 3-for-2 stock split.
Quarter net income rose to $10.8 million, or 39 cents a share, compared with $7.2 million, or 26 cents, earned in the final three months of 2004. The results for the 2005 fourth quarter included charges of about 8 cents a share for stock-option expensing, historical tax liabilities and the sale of operations in western Australia.
Analysts polled by Thomson First Call had been looking for earnings, on average, of 42 cents a share, before items.
Late Monday, the Greenwich, Conn.-based company (GWR : Genesee & Wyoming Inc Cl A
News , chart, profile, more
Last: 43.16+4.42+11.41%
8:05pm 02/14/2006
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GWR43.16, +4.42, +11.4%) said it's selling the western Australia operations to Queensland Rail and Babcock & Brown Ltd. for about $956 million, based on current exchange rates, plus certain other payments.
Genesee & Wyoming, which will concentrate on its North American rail operations, said it expects to record an aftertax gain of about $107 million on the transaction.
Fourth-quarter sales rose 29%, reaching $103.3 million from $80.1 million.
Regarding the board-approved stock split, the company said stockholders will receive on March 14 one share Genesee & Wyoming for every two shares they owned as of Feb. 28.
The stock set a 52-week intraday high of $45.24 before backing down to close at $43.16, an 11.4% gain.
