Canadian National Railway said higher volumes and a lower Canadian dollar helped to offset the effects of harsh winter weather in the first quarter, strengthening earnings and helping it beat analyst expectations.
Canada's biggest railway operator, based in Montreal, said a weaker Canadian dollar boosted its US-dollar-denominated revenue, which was also helped by strong energy markets and market-share gains in intermodal and energy shipments.
CN earned US$564.9 million, up from $503.26 million a year earlier. Excluding gains on rail-line sales made during the 2014 and 2013 periods, CN earned 60 cents a share in the first quarter, exceeding the 56 cents a share analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were expecting.
Total revenue in the quarter increased by nine percent to $2.44 billion, compared with the $2.39 billion analysts were projecting, and up from $2.23 billion in the same quarter last year.
Despite an unusually cold winter that clogged operations across its network and led to a slowdown in shipments of many commodities, CN said car loadings rose in the quarter by one percent for a total of 1.239 million cars.
The railroad's strongest volume gains came in petroleum and chemical cargo, which rose 23 percent to $515 million from $418 million, while grain shipments rose by six percent.
"The winter of a lifetime took its toll on network capacity and affected all of our customers, but I'm pleased that CN's recovery is now well under way, with key safety, operating and service metrics returning to pre-winter levels," said Claude Mongeau, CN's president and chief executive officer.
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