CN Says It Has Recovered from Pandemic Downtown

Canadian National said this week that its posted gains in second-quarter earnings and traffic, with nearly every traffic category growing in volume.

CN managers during an earning call said the results reflected a recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic-induced downtown.

Operating income skyrocketed by 76 percent, to $1.38 billion, as revenue grew 12 percent, to $3.6 billion.

Adjusted for the impact of one-time items, earnings per share increased 16 percent, to $1.46. The operating ratio was 61.6 percent, down from 75.5 percent a year ago but up 1.2 points when last year’s second quarter is adjusted for the impact of one-time items.

On a carload basis, overall volume was up 14 percent. It was up by 13 percent when measured by revenue ton-miles, the preferred metric of Canadian railroads.

The strongest traffic growth occurred in industrial products, intermodal, and propane traffic.

“Our results reflect broad-based trends and forward momentum across all of our business, and also the enduring power of our vast and diversified CN network,” CEO J.J. Ruest said.

CN said its terminal dwell and car miles per day improved, while average train speed was down 2 percent, to 19.5 mph.

The Montreal-based carrier set a quarterly record for fuel efficiency and posted a record low employee personal injury rate. The train accident rate also declined.

CN continues to say that its outlook for the remainder of the year will be high single-digit volume growth and double-digit growth in earnings per share.

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