(Bloomberg News circulated the following article by Reg Curren on October 19.)
TORONTO — Canadian National Railway Co., the country’s largest railroad, said third-quarter profit increased 21 percent, more than analysts expected, as the company raised prices and carried more freight.
Net income climbed to C$497 million ($444.7 million), or 94 cents a share, from C$411 million, or 74 cents, a year earlier, the Montreal-based company said in a statement today. Canadian National also boosted its full-year earnings forecast to C$3.40. The company didn’t say what its forecast had been.
Canadian National boosted sales 9.4 percent to C$1.9 billion as it benefited from higher fuel surcharges and freight volume that rose 6 percent. Cargo from Asia carried by a combination of rail and truck and rising exports of Canadian grain and coal contributed to the revenue increase.
UBS analyst Fadi Chamoun in Toronto had estimated earnings at 86 cents a share, excluding any one-time costs or gains. The average estimate was 84 cents among seven analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial, which doesn’t give a basis for its figures.
The average estimate for the company’s full-year earnings had been C$3.26 a share in a Thomson Financial survey of 12 analysts.
Canadian National’s operating ratio, also called profit margin, rose to 43 cents per dollar of sales before taxes and interest, from 37 cents a year earlier.
Shares of Canadian National fell 39 cents to C$50.85 at 4 p.m. in Toronto trading and have climbed 23 percent in the past year. The company released its earnings after the close of trading on the Toronto exchange.