(The Associated Press circulated the following on January 20, 2009.)
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Railroad operator CSX says its fourth-quarter earnings sank 32 percent from a year-earlier, mostly due to a sizable writedown on the value of a resort the company owns.
The Jacksonville, Fla.-based company posted net earnings of $247 million, or 63 cents per share, compared with $365 million, or 86 cents per share a year earlier. The 2008 period includes a charge of 27 cents per share related to the money-losing Greenbrier resort the company owns.
Excluding the one-time charge, CSX Corp. earned 90 cents per share.
Revenue rose 4 percent to $2.7 billion, helped by higher prices and fuel surcharges.
Thomson Reuters says analysts expected a profit of 91 cents per share, on average, on revenue of $2.71 billion.