(Norfolk Southern issued the following news release on April 26.)
NORFOLK, Va. — Norfolk Southern Corporation today reported first-quarter net income of $305 million, or $0.72 per diluted share, an increase of 57 percent compared with $194 million, or $0.47 per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2005.
“Continued strong demand for rail service allowed us to produce a substantial improvement over the prior year,” said Wick Moorman, Norfolk Southern’s chief executive officer. “From our vantage point, demand for rail transportation remains healthy, and our first-quarter results reflect solid execution throughout the enterprise. I’m even more encouraged that we were able to achieve our lowest first-quarter operating ratio since the Conrail transaction and report continuing substantial volume growth in conjunction with our improved earnings.”
Railway operating revenues of $2.3 billion were the highest of any quarter in Norfolk Southern’s history and improved 17 percent compared with $1.96 billion in the first quarter of 2005.
General merchandise revenues were a record $1.28 billion, an increase of 18 percent compared with the same period a year earlier. The gains were due primarily to higher average revenues and a 3 percent increase in traffic volumes. Each of the major business groups reported revenue improvements. Agricultural product revenues increased by 38 percent, metals and construction by 25 percent, paper, clay and forest products by 14 percent, chemical products by 11 percent and automotive by 4 percent.
Coal revenues climbed $92 million, or 20 percent, to $559 million, compared with the same period last year, primarily a result of higher average revenues and a 4 percent increase in coal volumes.
Intermodal revenues set a first-quarter record, rising 14 percent to $466 million compared with the same period a year earlier. The improvement was driven by higher average revenues and an 8 percent increase in traffic volume, reflecting strength in the international and truckload sectors.
First-quarter railway operating expenses were $1.75 billion, up 12 percent over the same period in 2005. Higher compensation and benefits, a 54 percent increase in diesel fuel expense and costs of handling additional business volumes contributed to the increases during the quarter.
The first-quarter operating ratio of 76.1 percent was an improvement of 3.3 percentage points compared with 79.4 percent during first-quarter 2005.
Norfolk Southern Corporation is one of the nation’s premier transportation companies. Its Norfolk Southern Railway subsidiary operates approximately 21,200 route miles in 22 states, the District of Columbia and Ontario, Canada, serving every major container port in the eastern United States and providing superior connections to western rail carriers. NS operates the most extensive intermodal network in the East and is North America’s largest rail carrier of automotive parts and finished vehicles.