* CN now expects 2012 diluted EPS to rise 10 pct this year
* Had previously forecast earnings growth of up to 10 pct
* First-quarter earnings rise 16 pct
* Milder winter, stronger economy help boost earnings,
forecast
April 23 (Reuters) – Canadian National Railway Corp
said on Monday its full-year earnings would come in at the top
end of an earlier forecast after a mild winter and an improving
economy helped Canada’s biggest railroad boost first-quarter
earnings by 16 percent.
After adjustments, CN now expects diluted earnings per share
to rise by 10 percent for all of 2012, up from diluted EPS of
C$4.84 for 2011. Previously CN forecast an increase in earnings
of up to 10 percent this year.
Net income for the first three months of 2012 rose to C$775
million ($778.93 million), or C$1.75 a share, from C$668
million, or C$1.45, in the same period of 2011, CN reported.
Excluding certain items, EPS came in at C$1.18 a share.
CN’s operating ratio, which measures operating costs as a
percentage of revenue, improved to 66.2 percent from 69 percent
in the year-earlier period. The lower the number, the more
efficient the operation.
Revenues increased 13 percent to C$2.3 billion, while car
loadings increased 5 percent.
Analysts, on average, expected earnings of C$1.03 a share on
revenue of nearly C$2.3 billion, according to Thomson Reuters
I/B/E/S.
