(The Associated Press circulated the following article on August 1.)
GREENWICH, Conn. — Genesee & Wyoming Inc., an operator of short-line railroads, on Tuesday said profit for the second quarter soared by more than tenfold, largely on the sale of its interest in an Australian railroad company.
Quarterly earnings rose to $117.7 million, or $2.76 per share, from $11.4 million, or 27 cents per share, during the same period last year.
The results were buoyed by special items that totaled $102.6 million after-tax, or $2.41 per share. Those items included the sale last month of Genesee & Wyoming’s interest in the Australian Railroad Group and the acquisition of some South Australian operations of Australian Railroad. The company also recorded a charge of $5.9 million from its operations in Bolivia and Mexico.
Excluding one-time items, the company earned 35 cents per share.
Analysts polled by Thomson Financial forecast earnings of 40 cents per share.
Revenue grew 23 percent to $113.6 million from $92.7 million during the same period last year.
Genesee & Wyoming Chairman and Chief Executive Mortimer B. Fuller III said that while the gains complicated the reporting of the company’s second quarter results, they also leave it with the strongest balance sheet in its history.
In North America, Fuller said improved pricing helped offset declines in coal carloads related to plant maintenance and weather. He also said lumber and forest products shipments declined due to a sluggish housing market, which reflects an industrywide trend.