Increased revenue from grain gave a much-needed boost to Canadian National Railway’s bottom line in the first quarter of 2004.
The railway last week reported net income of $210 million, or 73 cents per diluted share, for the three months ending March 31, 2004.
That compares with $252 million, or 85 cents per share, during the same period last year.
The decline in earnings was attributed to a number of factors, including a month-long strike by the Canadian Auto Workers, the strong Canadian dollar and high energy prices.
Revenues for the quarter declined by four percent to $1.44 million. Revenue from intermodal traffic was down by 14 percent, while automotive, coal and petroleum/chemical revenues all declined by nine percent.
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Those were offset in part by a nine percent improvement over last year in grain and fertilizer revenue, and a six percent increase in metals and minerals.
Grain and fertilizer revenue totaled $254 million, placing it third behind coal ($307 million) and petroleum/chemicals ($265 million). That’s up from $234 million in the first quarter of 2003.
CN president and chief executive officer E. Hunter Harrison said the company expects to see “continued strength” in the grain sector during the rest of the year.
Statistics for the first quarter indicate that CN moved 141,000 cars of grain and fertilizer, up five percent from 134,000 a year ago.
