Kansas City Southern on Friday, Jan. 23, 2015, said it had achieved record revenue results for both its fourth quarter and full year, as earnings per share exceeded Wall Street analyst expectations.
KCS reported fourth-quarter net income of $142 million, or $1.28 per diluted share, compared with $114 million, or $1.03 per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of 2013. "Excluding debt retirement costs and the impacts of foreign exchange rate fluctuations, adjusted diluted earnings per share for fourth quarter 2014 was $1.27 compared to $1.03 in 2013," KCS said. That handily beat analyst expectations of $1.03 for the quarter.
KCS's operating ratio of 66.7% improved from 68.1% in the year-ago quarter.
The Class I railroad said fourth-quarter revenue of $643 million, up 4% from the year-ago quarter, set a record, driven by a 5% rise in carload volumes, led by its Chemicals & Petroleum and Energy sectors. Intermodal also was strong, KCS said.
For the full year of 2014, KCS revenue also set a record at $2.6 billion, up 9% over 2013's total. "After adjusting for lease termination costs, full-year operating income was $847 million. Full-year 2014 adjusted operating income increased 15% over prior year's operating income. The company's 2014 adjusted operating ratio was 67.1% compared with the operating ratio of 68.8% in 2013, a 1.7 point improvement," KCS said.
Reported net income in 2014 totaled $504 million, or $4.55 per diluted share, compared with $353 million, or $3.18 per diluted share, in 2013.
"Kansas City Southern achieved record financial results with growth in all six commodity groups in 2014," said President and CEO David L. Starling. "Strong volume growth in our Agriculture & Minerals and Automotive commodity groups contributed to a record adjusted operating ratio of 67.1%, a reduction of 1.7 points over the prior year's operating ratio.
"KCS met its stated target of high-single digit year-over-year revenue growth, coming in 9% higher than 2013. The company reported adjusted diluted earnings per share of $4.82, which marks the fifth consecutive year KCS has recorded a double-digit percentage increase in its adjusted diluted earnings per share," Starling said.