CSX Profit Up as Consumer Segments Offset Coal

CSX Corp reported higher quarterly profit and said revenue and volume were little changed from a year ago, as increases in consumer goods segments helped offset a drop in utility coal shipping.

Higher automobile, export coal and intermodal shipments helped offset the drop in domestic utility coal triggered by low natural gas prices, the company said on Tuesday.

Intermodal refers to the shipment of goods from appliances to electronics in containers that can be shifted from one form of transportation to another.

CSX remains on track for earnings growth for the full year, even with ongoing softness in demand from domestic utilities for coal, the company said in a statement.

CSX holds a conference call with analysts on Wednesday before the market opens.

Jacksonville, Florida-based CSX said net income rose to $512 million, or 49 cents per share, in the second quarter from $506 million, or 46 cents per share a year before.

The average forecast from Wall Street analysts was 47 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Quarterly operating revenue for the No. 2 publicly-held U.S. railroad operator held at about $3.01 billion in the quarter.

The railroad company's shares rose about 1 percent to $23 in after-hours trading.

Earlier on Tuesday, the fourth largest railroad company, Kansas City Southern, reported higher profit, but said a bigger-than-expected coal shipping slump weighed down quarterly revenue. It warned that its full-year revenue growth would be lower than earlier estimated.