CSX sees revenues soar as volume drops
CSX Corp. reported net profit of $351 million in the three months ending March 28, a 46 percent increase over the $240 million recorded in the same 2007 period.
First quarter revenue was $2.7 billion, 12 percent higher than the $2.4 billion recorded in the first quarter of the prior period.
The company achieved the better results by increasing revenue 9 percent and revenue per unit 14 percent even as freight volumes fell 2 percent.
CSX said it “was able to achieve continued pricing gains during first quarter 2008 predominantly due to the overall cost and service advantages that rail-based solutions provide versus other modes of transportation. These pricing gains, and higher fuel recovery due to higher fuel prices, more than offset volume weakness in housing construction, domestic automobile production and related markets.”
An 18 percent increase in domestic intermodal to 255,000 units offset a 13 percent decline in international intermodal to 253,000 units.
Coal volumes were flat.
Volumes were up 12 percent for agricultural products. But they were down in other categories: automotive shipments down 12 percent, chemicals (4 percent), forest products (13 percent), and food and consumer goods (9 percent).