CP RailJACQUES BOISSINOT/The Canadian Press
Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. says the sale of two large properties helped boost its third-quarter profit despite a 20-per-cent drop in revenue from operations as most of its freight segments showed the effect of a slow economy.
Canadian Pacific says its third-quarter profit was $195.4-million or $1.16 cents a share, including $68-million from the sale of two properties.
A year ago, the railway's profit was $170.7-million or $1.10 cents a share.
"We delivered strong cost control and tight resource management this quarter while traffic volumes remained under pressure," Fred Green, Canadian Pacific's president and chief executive, said in a statement.
"We are continuing to refine and optimize our business processes to further drive structural cost improvements. This increases our flexibility and positions us well to respond to changes in volumes as the economy begins to recover."
Canadian Pacific's revenue fell to $1.06-billion from $1.34-billion a year ago.
The declines covered most freight types, with revenue from intermodal services falling by $102.4-million to $285.4-million.
The railway's revenue from coal dropped $41.3-million to $119.7-million, sulphur and fertilizers fell $45.8-million to $80.3-million and forest products were chopped by $23.6-million to $45.3-million.
Meanwhile at industrial and consumer products, the railway's third-biggest revenue generator, revenue declined $57.7-million to $191.6-million while automotive shrank to $59.6-million, a decline of $24.9-million.
The only freight segment showing an increase was grain handling, which rose by $17.2-million to $279.6-million in revenue during the quarter.