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Canadian Pacific's (CP) Q4 Earnings Miss, Revenues Beat

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Canadian Pacific Railway Limited’s (CP - Free Report) fourth-quarter 2021 earnings (excluding 16 cents from non-recurring items) of 75 cents (C$0.95) per share missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny. The bottom line dipped year over year. All per share amounts have been retrospectively adjusted to reflect the share split (five-for-one).

However, quarterly revenues of $1,618.4 million (C$2,040 million) outperformed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1,581.3 million. The top line increased year over year due to a rise in freight revenues.

Freight revenues, contributing 97.7% to the top line, rose 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. CP’s freight segment consists of Grain (down 13%), Coal (down14%), Potash (up 12%), Forest products (up 6%), Energy, chemicals and plastics (up 15%), Metals, minerals and consumer products (up 25%), Automotive (down 20%), as well as Intermodal (up 8%). Revenues at the Fertilizers and sulphur sub-segment were flat year over year. In the reported quarter, total freight revenues per revenue ton-miles (RTMs) rose 13% year over year. Total freight revenues per carload increased 12% from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure.


On a reported basis, operating income dropped 10% while total operating expenses increased 11%, year over year in the quarter under review. Adjusted operating income decreased by 6.5%.  Operating ratio (operating expenses, as a percentage of revenues, on an adjusted basis) deteriorated to 57.5% in the fourth quarter from 53.9% in the year-ago quarter.  Lower the value of the metric, the better.

Liquidity

Canadian Pacific, carrying a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell), exited the fourth quarter with cash and cash equivalents of C$69 million compared with C$147 million at the end of fourth-quarter 2020. Long-term debt amounted to C$18,577 million compared with C$8,585 million at the end of December 2020.

Dividend Update

Canadian Pacific’s board approved a quarterly dividend of C$0.19 per share, payable to shareholders on Apr 25, of record as of Mar 25.

Sectorial Snapshots

Within the broader Transportation sector, CSX Corporation (CSX - Free Report) , Canadian National Railway (CNI - Free Report) and GATX Corporation (GATX - Free Report) recently reported fourth-quarter 2021 results.

CSX, carrying a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), reported fourth-quarter 2021 earnings of 42 cents per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny. The bottom line improved in double digits year over year owing to higher revenues.

CSX’s total revenues of $3,427 million outperformed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3296 million. The top line augmented 21.3% year over year owing to growth across all its businesses, as well as revenues from Quality Carriers, which the company acquired in July 2021.

Canadian National, carrying a Zacks Rank #3, reported fourth-quarter 2021 earnings (excluding 2 cents from non-recurring items) of $1.36 per share (C$1.71), which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.21. The bottom line increased in double digits year over year due to lower costs.

Canadian National’s quarterly revenues of $2,977.4 million (C$3,753 million) topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2,917.4 million. The top line improved year over year, driven by higher freight rates and fuel surcharges.

GATX, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), reported fourth-quarter 2021 earnings (excluding 11 cents from non-recurring items) of $1.58 per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.07. The bottom line surged more than 200% year over year. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

GATX’s total revenues of $321 million increased 5.3% year over year, mainly due to a 5.2% rise in lease revenues, which came in at $288.4 million. Lease revenues contributed 89.8% to the top line.

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