CP profits decline amid public takeover battle

Canadian Pacific Railway Limited posted a net income of $319 million Canadian on revenues of $1.69 billion Canadian for the fourth quarter of 2015, year-over-year declines of 29.3 percent and 4 percent, respectively.    Net income at Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (CP) totaled $319 million Canadian (U.S. $223.3 million) for the fourth quarter of 2015, a 29.3 percent decline from the corresponding quarter in 2014, according to the railway’s most recent unaudited financial statements.
   CP’s revenues for the quarter reached C$1.69 billion, a 4 percent year-over-year drop. Diluted earnings per share for the fourth quarter declined 20.9 percent year-over-year, from C$2.63 per share to C$2.08 per share.
   CP’s adjusted and reported operating ratio for the quarter was 59.8 percent.
   For the full year, the railway’s net income fell 8.8 percent from 2014 to C$1.35 billion. However, revenues inched up 1.4 percent year-over-year to $6.71 billion.
   Diluted earnings per share for 2015 dropped 0.7 percent year-over-year from C$8.46 per share to C$8.40 per share.
   For the full year, CP’s adjusted operating ratio was 61 percent, while its reported operating ratio was 60 percent, beating the previous record set in 2014 by 370 and 470 basis points, respectively.
   “While the North American economy braces itself for more headwinds, we remain optimistic about the future and CP’s continued growth,” CP CEO E. Hunter Harrison said in a statement. “Despite the challenges, we expect 2016 to bring an operating ratio below 59 while generating double-digit EPS growth.”
   Since November, Canadian Pacific been engaged in a highly public takeover attempt of number four U.S. railroad Norfolk Southern Railway. CP has made three separate attempts to purchase the Norfolk, Va.-based railway, but NS has repeatedly resisted CP’s proposals.
   Just this week, CP asked the U.S. Justice Department to investigate what it says is a “collective campaign” by North America’s other Class I railroads to block its attempt to take over the railway.