Grain carloads were marginally fewer but grain revenue per carload climbed 10 per cent to help Canadian Pacific Railway to its highest quarterly revenue ever.
Calgary-based CP on Oct. 18 booked net income of $622 million on $1.898 billion in revenues — its “highest ever (revenues) for any quarter” — in its third quarter ending Sept. 30, up from $510 million on $1.595 billion in the year-earlier period.
“It was a record by almost every measure and sets us up well for the remainder of the year and beyond,” CEO Keith Creel said in a release.
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The company reiterated its Oct. 4 revision to its full-year guidance, calling for adjusted diluted EPS (earnings per share) to grow “in excess of 20 per cent,” compared to earlier guidance for low-double-digit growth.
Revenues from grain handling played a role in CP’s record-setting quarterly ledger, as the company’s grain business grossed $384 million, up nine per cent from the year-earlier period.
Grain carloads, however, were down one per cent at 107,400, putting the company’s revenue per grain carload at $3,565, up from $3,251 in the previous year’s Q3.
Slightly lower traffic in grains, coal and metals was more than offset by increased carloads in intermodal, energy and chemicals and potash, CP reported.
Carloads in the fertilizers and sulphur segment were flat at 13,800 for the quarter, and potash up 22 per cent at 42,300, for revenue per carload of $3,957 and $3,089 respectively, both up four per cent.
“We remain disciplined in our approach and are seeing continued and sustainable growth across our lines of business,” Creel said in the company’s release. “We have the foundational underpinnings, and the room to grow, in the weeks, months and years ahead.” –– Glacier FarmMedia Network
