MONTREAL – The Canadian National Railway (CN) today announced lower third-quarter revenue due mainly to lower freight volumes, a result of the economic downturn caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Revenue dropped to CAN$3.4 billion (RM14.11 billion) compared to CAN$3.8 billion in the same period last year, a drop of around 11%, the company said in a statement.
“The decrease in revenues was mainly due to lower volumes across most commodity groups caused by the ongoing effects of the Covid-19 pandemic,” the company, headquartered in Montreal and known as Canadien National in French, said.
For the second quarter of 2020 CN reported a revenue drop of around 19%, a figure also blamed on the effects of the pandemic.
For the quarter ending September 30, CN reported net income of CAN$985 million, down from CAN$1.1 billion a year ago.
Excluding exceptional items, adjusted quarterly earnings stood at CAN$1.38 per share, or 7 cents less than the average consensus of analysts.
CN said that operating expenses were down 8% mainly due to a drop in fuel and labour costs. – AFP, October 21, 2020
