(RailAmerica issued the following news release on October 12.)
BOCA RATON, Fla. — RailAmerica, Inc. today reported its freight carloads for the month ended September 30, 2006.
Total carloads for September 2006 were 100,385, down 7,185 carloads, or 6.7%, from 107,570 in September 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 1,540 carloads. On a “same railroad” basis, September 2006 carloads decreased 5,645 carloads, or 5.5%, to 97,842 from 103,487 in September 2005. The September 2006 carloads were primarily affected by lower shipments of Coal, Lumber & Forest Products, Paper Products and Minerals. Lumber & Forest Products carloads were affected by the continued slow down in the housing market and shipments of Paper Products continued to be negatively impacted by a work stoppage at a shipper’s facility in Nova Scotia. The facility is expected to resume production in mid October.
For the nine months ended September 30, 2006, total carloads decreased 3.0% to 946,882 from 975,962 in 2005. On a “same railroad” basis for the same period, carloads were 919,469 down 1.5% from 933,906 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 September 30, 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.