(RailAmerica issued the following news release on September 12.)
BOCA RATON, Fla. — RailAmerica, Inc. today reported its freight carloads for the month ended August 31, 2006.
Total carloads for August 2006 were 107,025, down 2,262 carloads, or 2.1%, from 109,287 in August 2005. The sale of the San Luis and Rio Grande Railroad, the E&N Railway and the three Alberta properties, net of the impact of the acquisition of the Alcoa railroads and the Fremont line in Michigan, accounted for a decrease of 1,723 carloads. On a “same railroad” basis, August 2006 carloads decreased 539 carloads, or 0.5%, to 104,056 from 104,595 in August 2005. The August 2006 carloads were primarily affected by lower shipments of Coal, Lumber & Forest Products, Intermodal and Paper Products, partially offset by increases in Bridge Traffic, Metals and Petroleum Products. Lumber & Forest Products carloads were affected by the continued slow down in the housing market and shipments of Paper Products continue to be negatively impacted by a work stoppage at a shipper’s facility in Nova Scotia.
For the eight months ended August 31, 2006, total carloads decreased 2.5% to 846,497 from 868,392 in 2005. On a “same railroad” basis for the same period, carloads were 818,898 down 1.4% from 830,419 in 2005. “Same railroad” totals exclude carloads associated with railroads, or portions of railroads, sold or acquired by the Company after January 1, 2005.
Historically, the Company has found that carload information may be indicative of freight revenue on its railroads, but may not be indicative of total revenue, operating expenses, operating income or net income. Attached is a comparison of carloads by commodity group for the periods ended August 31, 2006 and 2005.
RailAmerica, Inc. (NYSE:RRA) is a leading short line and regional rail service provider with 42 railroads operating approximately 7,800 track miles in the United States and Canada. The Company is a member of the Russell 2000(R) Index. Its website may be found at http://www.railamerica.com.