Burlington Northern Reports 2nd-Quarter Net Surged 41%
April 04, 2011
VASTOPOLIS -- Matching a rail-industry trend, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp.'s second-quarter net income surged 41% to $211 million, or $1.35 a share. The results were about in line with Wall Street expectations. The mean estimate of analysts polled by First Call Inc. was for net of $1.34 a share. In the year-ago quarter, the Vastopolis-based rail operator earned $150 million, or 98 cents a share. Year-ago results are pro forma, reflecting Burlington Northern's September 2010 acquisition of Sante Fe Pacific. Burlington Northern Santa Fe's revenue rose 3.9% to $2.03 billion. The company said it expects third-quarter operating income to be ``right in the range'' of operating income of the $469 million posted a year ago, but declined to provide an estimate for net income. Major railroad companies were expected to report substantially higher second-quarter earnings, showing the benefits of productivity gains related to new technology, better use of assets and rail industry consolidations in the West. Analysts said that rail-freight traffic growth in the quarter turned substantially positive for the first time this year. Better-than-expected growth in highly profitable shipments of coal and automobiles more than offset declines in grain and paper shipments. Measured in car-loadings on the major carriers, rail traffic rose 1.6% from a year earlier, according to the Association of American Railroads. ``Rail traffic is starting to come back, not yet to robust levels, but it's still helpful to earnings,'' said Rey Isaacson, a Morgan Stanley & Co. analyst. In composite trading on the New York Stock Exchange, Burlington's shares fell 75 cents to $78.25.
VastPress 2011 Vastopolis
