Canadian Pacific Railway Profit Edges Down

Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. on Wednesday reported a slight decline in first-quarter profit despite an uptick in shipping volumes, reflecting foreign-exchange charges and higher operating costs.

Canada's second-biggest railway operator, based in Calgary, said revenue rose about 1% to $1.6 billion Canadian dollars ($1.2 billion), compared with the C$1.59 billion analysts were projecting.

CP earned C$431 million, or C$2.93 a share, down from C$384 million, or C$2.50 a year earlier.

Results were slightly above the C$2.49 a share analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were expecting.

The railway's operating expenses fell 1% to C$932 million. Its operating ratio, improved to 58.1% from 58.9%. The operating ratio is the percentage of operating revenue consumed by operating costs, so a decline indicates an improvement. On an adjusted basis, however, reflecting a gain of C$51 million associated with the early departure of former Chief Executive Hunter Harrison, the company's operating ratio was 61.3%, an increase of 240 basis points.

The quarter is the first full period with the railroad's current Chief Executive Keith Creel at the helm after Mr. Harrison stepped down to later take the top job at U.S. railroad CSX Corp.

CP's larger peer and main rival, Canadian National Railway Co. reports first-quarter results next week.

Write to David George-Cosh at David.George-Cosh@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 19, 2017 17:15 ET (21:15 GMT)