CANADA: Announcing its fourth-quarter and year-end results for 2010 in Calgary on January 26, Canadian Pacific Railway reported significant revenue improvements across all areas of its business.

Revenue in the final quarter increased by 13% to C$1·3bn, contributing to a 27% jump in net income to C$186m. Total revenues for 2010 were 13% higher than 2009, increasing from C$4·4bn to C$5·0bn, whilst operating expenses only rose from C$3·5bn to C$3·9bn As a result, adjusted operating income increased by 39% from C$830m to C$1·1bn. A 54% increase in earnings per share to C$3·87 enabled CP to reduce its long-term debt by C$250m and make a pension prepayment of C$650m. During the year, CPR improved its operating ratio to 77·6.

During the year, CP operated 63 678 train-km, hauling 355 billion gross tonne-km of freight. With average terminal dwell times of 21·4 h and an average network velocity of 36·5 km/h, the railway had an average of 50 900 wagons and 1 015 locomotives active at any given time, with wagons moving an average of 255 km per day.

‘The fourth quarter saw double digit revenue growth, a continuation of our year-to-date trend’, reported President & CEO Fred Green. ‘We delivered an improvement in our operating ratio by staying focused on three priorities: safety, asset velocity, and productivity. During the year we once again improved our industry-leading train safety performance while moving a significant increase in volumes.

‘We continue to see strong demand for rail service across all lines of business’, Green added. ‘We are ramping up our resources and making long-term investments in our company to meet growing demand, further improve customer service, and achieve our three-to-five year target of a low 70s operating ratio.’

CP had already announced its capital investment plans for 2011 on January 12; these envisage a total expenditure of between C$950m and C$1·05 bn.