CSX, said Eliasson, “is leveraging the most diverse business mix in its history, supported by a rail network that connects Eastern ports to major consumption regions and reaches more than two-thirds of American consumers. By capitalizing on our network reach, adapting to evolving market conditions, including secular growth trends in intermodal and changes in the energy markets, and deploying cash within a balanced framework, we have delivered strong financial results for shareholders. The investments we’ve made in market diversity and network reach, coupled with freight demand projections in the next decade, have positioned the company to continue delivering sustainable, profitable growth by capitalizing on the efficiency of rail to serve the needs of a growing global population.”
CSX’s “strong track record,” Eliasson noted, includes stock appreciation for shareholders of more than 150% since 2006, significantly outperforming the broader market. During that time, CSX nearly doubled earnings per share, quintupled dividends, and bought back more than $8 billion in stock. The company produced these results during a transformative period that included a global financial crisis and recession, the collapse of the housing market, and a transition in the energy markets that halved the company's domestic coal volume.
“Today, economic expansion is spurring broad-based growth across nearly all markets that CSX serves, as the housing market continues to recover, a second strong harvest is expected, and the energy renaissance continues to drive growth in the industrial sector,” said Eliasson. “At the same time, we continue to leverage the secular trend in intermodal conversion and expand key facilities to handle increasing demand across our network. With a unique approach that combines a hub-and-spoke model with more-traditional corridor service, CSX is well-positioned to capitalize on the nearly 9 million truckloads in the East with the potential for intermodal conversion. We continue to capitalize on these and other opportunities, and in the third quarter, overall volume is growing at a rate slightly higher than expected.
“We’re investing to accommodate this growth, and while our network remains stable, gradual improvement is expected to continue into 2015. As a result of these factors, we now expect our earnings per share to be up slightly from the $0.45 recorded in the same period last year, despite the increased costs to keep our network fluid and restore higher service levels, as well as the cycling of certain prior-year benefits. In addition, we expect modest full-year EPS growth for 2014. Economic trends and our company’s continued commitment to leveraging high-growth opportunities underpin confidence in our ability to return to generating double-digit earnings growth and margin expansion beginning in 2015. Longer term, we continue to target an operating ratio in the mid-60s, and will continue generating shareholder value by maintaining our focus on inflation-plus pricing, continually improving efficiency across the business, and capitalizing on economic trends.”