(The following appeared on the Globe and Mail website on November 13.)
TORONTO — Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. has joined the growing ranks of companies planning spending cutbacks in the light of the global economic and financial crunch.
The Calgary company said Thursday it plans to chop its capital spending in its operations and those of its recently acquired Dakota Minnesota & Eastern (DME) unit by about $200-million to the $800-million to $820-million range.
The announcement came just a few hours before the railway company is to hold an investor conference in Toronto.
“Canadian Pacific plans capital investment in 2009 consistent with the current economic conditions,” Kathryn McQuade, CP’s chief financial officer, said in a news release. “We are pacing our capital investments to match the needs of our customers, and this will result in a significant reduction in our 2009 capital spending when compared with previous years.”
CP said the capital spending plan includes the “basic renewal” of its track network and locomotive fleet, the first year of construction of an intermodal terminal in Regina, about $100-million (U.S.) to upgrade DME’s infrastructure, and pilot technology projects linked to its “Railway of the Future.”