advertisement

---

Traffic might have been soft, but revenue generation wasn’t for CSX Corp. in the first quarter. Although traffic volume declined 4 percent year over year to 1.8 million units — primarily because of weak construction- and automotive-related business — the company registered its 20th-straight quarter of revenue growth.

First-quarter surface transportation revenue totaled a record $2.4 billion, up 4 percent compared with first-quarter 2006. Driven by rate increases, revenue per unit rose 8 percent.

"We are pleased that our surface transportation businesses continued to show very strong earning power in the face of modest economic headwinds,” said CSX Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Michael Ward in a prepared statement.

However, quarterly earnings of $240 million fell slightly from first-quarter 2006 earnings of $245 million and surface transportation operating income (excluding insurance recoveries) of $469 million declined 4 percent. Earnings were impacted by a $28 million derailment-related expense.

In addition, total quarterly expenses increased 5 percent to $1.9 billion and CSX’s surface transportation operating ratio worsened 0.8 points to 79.9 compared with first-quarter 2006. The company’s rail (CSX Transportation) and intermodal (CSX Intermodal) operating ratios worsened 0.5 points to 79.2 and 3.2 points to 84.6, respectively.