OTTAWA -- Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. says its view of the economy is no "gloomier" than other carriers and instead reflects management's focus on preparing for an eventual recovery. Reuters reported.
Last month, Canada's second-biggest railway said economic signals "remain weak and volatile." High unemployment rates and home foreclosures in the United States should temper "unsupported optimism for the levels of recovery that people are hoping for," Chief Executive Fred Green said.
"It's been suggested that CP might be a little gloomier than some of the other Class Ones (railways) when it comes to our view of the economy," Don Campbell, CP's vice-president of finance, said via a webcast from a transportation conference on Thursday.
"I don't know that that's true ... We don't believe that our shareholders will be rewarded if this management team turns out to be the best prognosticators and can give you perfectly accurate prediction of what GDP is going to be in the fourth quarter of this year. We don't know."
The company's key message, he said, is that shareholders will be rewarded when management is most prepared to take advantage of an economic recovery, whenever it occurs.
CP shares gained 38 Canadian cents, or 0.7 percent, to C$51.42 on the Toronto Stock Exchange and added $1.03, or 2 percent, to $48.96 on New York on Thursday.
Last month, when the company posted a better than expected quarterly profit but forecast ongoing market uncertainty, the stock fell about 3 percent.
(The preceding article by Susan Taylor was distributed February 11, 2010, by Reuters.)
