BURLINGTON NORTHERN REPORTS FLAT FREIGHT REVENUES

BURLINGTON NORTHERN REPORTS FLAT FREIGHT REVENUES

   Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation, in an earnings report issued on Tuesday, said that its freight revenues of $2.27 billion for the fourth quarter of 2002 were flat compared to the fourth quarter of 2001.

   Freight revenues for the full year of 2002 were $8.87 billion, compared with 2001 revenues of $9.09 billion.

   Operating income for all of 2002 fell to $1.66 billion, from $1.75 billion for the full year of 2001.

   Operating expenses of $7.32 billion for all of 2002 decreased by $135 million from $7.45 billion in 2001.

   In the fourth quarter of 2002, Burlington Northern’s revenues from consumer products increased $37 million, or three percent, to $846 million, primarily reflecting increased volumes in the international, truckload, and perishables sectors.

   “General softness in the building, construction and petroleum products sectors,” the company said in a statement, left revenues from industrial products “essentially flat” at $491 million for the fourth quarter. Coal revenues dropped $6 million, or one percent, to $540 million for the fourth quarter.