John D. Boyd | Jul 28, 2011 10:20AM EDT
RailAmerica, operator of 43 small railroads in the U.S. and Canada, swung to an $8.7 million profit in the April-June quarter on continuing operations, from a $4.2 million loss a year earlier.
Revenue grew 17 percent to $139 million. That included a 7 percent gain in freight receipts and 59 percent higher non-freight revenue.
However, traffic counts slid 2.8 percent to 212,095 shipments across all cargo categories, mainly on a 22 percent fall in coal loadings.
John Giles, president and CEO, said the strong performance came "despite persistent weather challenges, low coal volumes and fuel price pressures.”
He said RailAmerica controlled costs, took advantage of “pricing opportunities” and built up non-freight revenue.
It included income from a rail construction unit it bought in July 2010, plus a benefit from a federal short line tax credit for track work, and took a charge against earnings for surplus locomotives it identified after a full-scale fleet review.
-- Contact John D. Boyd at jboyd@joc.com. Follow him on Twitter www.twitter.com/jboydjoc
