(The Associated Press circulated the following article on April 19.)
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX Corp., which operates the largest rail system in the eastern U.S., on Tuesday posted a sharp decline in first-quarter profit from year-ago results that included a gain on the sale of operations.
Earnings declined to $245 million, or $1.06 per share, for the January-March period from $579 million, or $2.56 per share, a year ago. The year-earlier results included a gain of $425 million, or $1.88 per share, from the sdale of its international terminals business.
Looking only at ongoing operations, per-share earnings surged 56 percent year over year, CSX said.
The results, announced after the markets closed, topped Wall Street expectations. CSX shares had risen $2.49, or 3.8 percent, to close at $67.27 on the New York Stock Exchange. They gained another $1.73, or 2.6 percent, to $69 in aftermarket electronic trading. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial had forecast per-share earnings of 89 cents.
Revenue rose to $2.33 billion from $2.11 billion in the prior-year period, ahead of analysts’ consensus target of $2.27 billion in sales.
”CSX continued to improve its underlying business performance in a strong demand environment,” said Michael J. Ward, chairman and chief executive.