Revenues for the quarter ending September 30 increased in three commodity groups, led by a 17% increase to $179 million in Chemicals and Petroleum due to refined product shipments to Mexico. Automotive and Intermodal each grew by 8% to $193.3 million and $284.6 million. Industrial and Consumer Products and Agriculture and Minerals were each flat compared to prior year, and Energy declined by 2%. Overall, carload volumes increased 4% compared to prior year. Excluding a gain on insurance recoveries related to damage and service interruptions from Hurricane Harvey in 2017, adjusted operating expenses in the third quarter of 2018 were $443 million, 5% higher than 2017. Adjusted operating income was $256 million, up 9%. Fuel expense rose to $90.2 million from $80.1 million in the year-ago quarter. The Kansas City-based company said adjusted third quarter operating ratio was 63.4, a 1.0 point improvement over third quarter 2017. Net income in the third quarter was $174 million, or $1.70 per diluted share, compared with $129 million, or $1.23 per diluted share in the third quarter of 2017. Adjusted diluted earnings per share were $1.57, 16% higher than a year ago, excluding the impacts of foreign exchange, adjustments to 2017 provisional income tax benefit for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and a gain on insurance recoveries related to hurricane damage. “Kansas City Southern faced a challenging third quarter, as network congestion in northern Mexico led to a difficult operating environment,” said Kansas City Southern President and Chief Executive Patrick J. Ottensmeyer, in a release accompanying the earnings. “However, we have taken steps that we are confident will restore our service levels and allow us to continue delivering strong and diversified franchise cross-border volume and revenue growth, led by increased refined product shipments to Mexico and strength in Intermodal and Automotive commodity groups. The company operates a Mexican subsidiary, Kansas City Southern de Mexico. “As we look to 2019, our cross-border network offers unique opportunities for volume growth from our robust Chemicals & Petroleum, Intermodal, Automotive and export Grain franchises. Moreover, the capital investments that we have made throughout our network, position us to deliver superior long-term growth and strong financial results to our stockholders.” The post Record revenues for Kansas City Southern appeared first on Railway Age. Continue reading...
