CSX Corp's first-quarter profit nearly doubled thanks to further cost cuts at the railroad and a restructuring that weighed on its earnings a year ago.
The Jacksonville, Florida-based company on Tuesday posted net income of $695 million, or 78 cents per share.
That's up from last year's $362 million, or 39 cents per share.
CSX Corp. is continuing the overhaul of its operations that began last year before CEO Hunter Harrison's death in December.
His successor, James M. Foote, president and chief executive officer, said CSX is drastically changing the way it operates by reducing the number of locomotives it uses and running trains on a tighter schedule.
“CSX employees did a great job of running the railroad and executing the scheduled railroading model during challenging weather conditions,” said Foote.
“We’re more confident in our ability to deliver safe, reliable, best-in-class service for our customers and enhanced value for our shareholders.”
Revenue for the first quarter remained relatively flat at $2.88 billion, while expenses declined 13 percent year over year or 8 percent when excluding prior year restructuring charges.
Operating income for the quarter increased 36 percent to $1.04 billion when compared to $769 million in the same period last year or 19 percent when compared to the adjusted operating income of $879 million reported in the first quarter of 2017.
“Since the implementation of scheduled railroading began in March 2017, CSX has taken significant strides to transform the organization and to make CSX more competitive,” said Foote.
“Our company’s operating model provides substantial opportunities to leverage our service product offering, capture growth and deliver superior financial returns.”
The earnings announcement, as well as additional detailed financial information, is contained in the CSX Quarterly Financial Report available through the company’s website at investors.csx.com and on Form 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
According to The Association of American Railroads (AAR), total carloads for the week ending April 14 were 258,123 carloads, up 1.6 percent compared with the same week in 2017, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 276,075 containers and trailers, up 6.9 percent compared to 2017.
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