GATX RAIL OPTIMISTIC DESPITE FALL IN 3RD-QUARTER EARNINGS

GATX RAIL OPTIMISTIC DESPITE FALL IN 3RD-QUARTER EARNINGS    GATX Rail, the rail and locomotive leasing unit of GATX Corp., reported third-quarter net income of $11.0 million, down 30.8 percent from the year-earlier period.
   Revenue rose 1.7 percent to $146.9 million, while fleet utilization slipped to 91 percent, from 93 percent.
   “Cost-reduction efforts are supporting results despite continued weakness in the rail sector, and we have increased our 2001 income expectation at GATX Rail from the $40 million range to approximately $45 million,” said Ronald H. Zech, chairman and president of Chicago-based GATX Corp.
   The parent company reported a net loss of $7.3 million for the third quarter, compared to net income of $45.1 million in the prior year period. GATX Corp.'s third-quarter 2001 results included pretax telecommunications-related charges    of $56 million and a one-time pr't-tax reserve benefit of $13.1 million. Excluding these, GATX Corp. said it's net income would have been $18.9 million.
   For the first nine months of 2001, GATX Rail had net income of $34.6 million, down 33.8 percent, on revenue of $441.3 million, up 2.9 percent.