CSX posts preliminary profit that trails estimates
(Bloomberg News circulated the following story by Mary Schlangenstein on January 12.)
NEW YORK CSX Corp., the third-largest U.S. railroad, reported preliminary fourth-quarter earnings that trailed analysts average estimate.
Profit was 90 cents a share, excluding a writedown of 27 cents a share in the value of a resort CSX owns, according to a statement today by the Jacksonville, Florida-based company. The average of 16 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg was 98 cents.
Excluding the resort writedown, as well as a 1-cent insurance gain in 2007s fourth quarter, profit rose 6 percent from a year earlier, CSX said. Revenue increased about 4 percent to $2.7 billion, the carrier reported, saying it carried significantly lower volumes and charged higher rates.
CSX owns the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, and said Jan. 2 it was reviewing options for the facility because of a $35 million loss last year amid declining demand. The resort said Jan. 9 it would furlough 650 workers because of a sharper than normal seasonal decline in business.
Fourth-quarter earnings including the writedown were 63 cents a share, the company said. CSX plans to report full results for the quarter on Jan. 20.
CSX fell $2.30, or 6.7 percent, to $32.22 at 4:03 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The railroad released the preliminary results after the NYSEs close.
