(Dow Jones Business News distributed the following article on October 22.)
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX Corp. swung to a third-quarter loss amid hefty charges and an 8.4% drop in revenue.
The railroad operator late Wednesday reported a net loss of $103 million, or 48 cents a share, compared with net income of $127 million, or 60 cents a share, a year earlier.
The latest results included a $145 million charge, or 68 cents a share, from a change in the company’s estimate for injury liabilities as well as a charge of $ 67 million, or 31 cents a share, for settlement of disputes related to the 1999 sale of the company’s international container-shipping assets.
Excluding items, CSX said it earned $109 million, or 51 cents a share, compared with $127 million, or 60 cents a share, a year earlier.
The mean estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call was for earnings, excluding items, of 53 cents a share.
Revenue fell to $1.88 billion from $2.06 billion a year earlier.
Revenue from the company’s surface-transportation business, which includes CSX’s rail and intermodal units, rose about 2% to $1.82 billion
“Resolution of the container shipping disputes, while subject to some conditions, will put behind us issues unrelated to our core business,” Michael J. Ward, CSX’s chairman and chief executive, said in a prepared statement.
“As for the rail and intermodal businesses, we are pleased with the revenue growth in merchandise resulting from our continued drive to improve yield and move shipments from other modes to CSX,” Mr. Ward said. “However, operating inefficiencies continued to keep our expenses too high.”
The company reported its results after the market closed. At 4 p.m. EDT on the New York Stock Exchange (news – web sites), shares of CSX were down 23 cents, or 0.8%, at $29.42.