NEW YORK (AFX) - Canadian National Railway Co., the largest railroad in Canada and among the top six in the U.S., on Thursday said its second-quarter profit rose 75 percent on higher fuel surcharges and volume growth in the company's grain and intermodal businesses.
Quarterly earnings grew to 729 million Canadian dollars ($651.1 million), or 1.3 Canadian dollars ($1.20) per share, compared to 416 million Canadian dollars ($371.5 million), or 73 Canadian cents (59 cents) per share in the same period last year.
The company said appreciation of the Canadian dollar against the U.S. dollar negatively affected earnings by 35 million Canadian dollars ($31.3 million) in the first half of the year.
Analysts polled by Thomson Financial forecast earnings of 76 cents per share.
Revenue grew by 16 percent to 1.95 billion Canadian dollars ($1.74 billion) compared to 1.84 billion Canadian dollars ($1.64 billion) in the same period last year.
Besides higher fuel surcharges, the company said revenue from intermodal -- in which railroads haul goods between modes of transportation -- rose 17 percent to 365 million Canadian dollars ($326 million) from $313 million Canadian dollars ($280 million) a year ago. Grain and fertilizer revenue grew 16 percent to 301 million Canadian dollars ($268.8 million) from 260 million Canadian dollars ($232.2 million) a year ago.
Canadian National also said it repurchased 7 million shares of company stock in the second quarter for $347 million Canadian dollars ($310 million) to conclude its current buyback program. The company approved a new program to repurchase up to 28 million additional shares by July 24, 2007.
Shares of Canadian National fell $1.43, or 3.3 percent, to close at $41.90 on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock has traded in a 52-week range of $30.21 to $51.17.
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