FORT WORTH, Texas — Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation today reported third-quarter 2002 earnings of $0.51 per share compared with $0.56 per share excluding adjustments for an automotive contract settlement and non-operating investment losses in 2001, or $0.58 per share including these items, according to a press release issued by the company.
“BNSF posted its fourth consecutive year-over-year quarterly record for on-time performance for our customers,” said Matthew K. Rose, BNSF Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. “BNSF is maintaining its focus on customer service and cost control in this current difficult revenue environment.”
Freight revenues for the 2002 third quarter were $2.28 billion compared with 2001 revenues of $2.31 billion or $2.28 billion excluding the $32 million automotive contract settlement. Consumer Products adjusted revenues increased $27 million, or 3 percent, to $881 million, due to increased intermodal volumes in the international and truckload businesses, despite the work stoppage late in the third quarter at West Coast ports. Industrial Products revenues fell $11 million, or 2 percent, to $524 million, as general softness in the building, construction and petroleum products sectors was partially offset by new chemical traffic.
Coal revenues increased $16 million, or 3 percent, to $535 million, reflecting increased shipments compared with the same period in 2001. Agricultural Products revenues declined $32 million, or 9 percent, to $342 million, primarily as a result of reduced export demand.
Operating expenses of $1.89 billion were $46 million, or 2 percent, higher than the same 2001 period. Compensation and benefits expense increased primarily due to the recently announced decrease in the long-term return on pension assets assumption. Additionally, most other operating expense categories were higher, except for fuel, which was lower than the previous year due to a reduction in fuel price per gallon.
Operating income was $421 million for the 2002 third quarter compared with operating income in the same 2001 period of $502 million or $470 million excluding the automotive contract settlement. BNSF’s operating ratio increased to 81.6 percent for the 2002 third quarter compared with 78.3 percent or 79.4 percent excluding the automotive contract settlement in 2001.
Common Stock Repurchases
During the 2002 third quarter, BNSF repurchased 2.9 million shares of its
common stock at an average price of $28.09 per share. This brings total repurchases under BNSF’s 120-million share-repurchase program to 113.0 million shares as of September 30, 2002, at an average price of $25.97 per share since the program was announced in July 1997.
A subsidiary of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation (NYSE: BNI – News), The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company (BNSF) operates one of the largest railroad networks in North America, with 33,000 route miles covering 28 states and two Canadian provinces. BNSF is an industry leader in Web- enabling a variety of customer transactions at www.bnsf.com . For the year ended 2001, the railway moved more intermodal traffic than any other rail system in the world, is America’s largest grain-hauling railroad, transports the mineral components of many of the products we depend on daily, and hauls enough coal to generate more than 10 percent of the electricity produced in the United States.