Canadian National reported second-quarter earnings of C$717 million (US$694 million), or C$1.69 (US$1.64) per diluted share, up from net income in the comparable 2012 quarter of C$631 million, or C$1.44 per diluted share.
Revenue for the quarter rose 5% to C$2.67 billion, aided by increased revenue ton-miles and carloadings. CN's operating ratio improved 0.4 of a point to 60.9%.
CN said the results included a net gain of C$13 million resulting from a gain on a non-monetary transaction with another railway that was partly offset by the effect of the enactment of higher provincial corporate income tax rates.
President and CEO Claude Mongeau said, "We executed strongly during the second quarter, with service and operating metrics on a steady improvement trend. This performance underscores our agenda of Operational and Service Excellence, which is key to achieve solid revenue growth at low incremental cost.
"Looking forward, despite slower volume growth than anticipated, the CN team will maintain a keen focus on growing revenues faster than the overall economy as well as on tightly managing costs to meet our full-year financial outlook," Mongeau said.
CN released its report after the the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange Monday, July 22, 2013. Shares of CN ended down 0.23% at US$101.53.