Canadian National Railway is maintaining its earnings growth outlook for 2012 despite anticipating a difficult end to the year due to a weak economy that will be set against last year's strong fourth quarter.
"We see a challenging end to the year," chief financial officer Luc Jobin said Monday during a conference call to discuss third-quarter results that edged a penny higher than analysts' forecasts.
"Given the weak economic context, however, we certainly have our work cut out and the expectation of reaching the upper end of our guidance is not a foregone conclusion."
The final quarter will compete with a strong finish to last year, when it booked a record 12 per cent increase in revenues and 20 per cent boost to adjusted profits in the fourth quarter.
Still, CN continues to expect its adjusted diluted earnings by share will grow by up to 15 per cent over the $4.84 earned in 2011. It also expects to generate about $1 billion of free cash, taking into consideration a potential $250-million additional voluntary pension contribution in the fourth quarter.
The railway reported after markets closed Monday that it earned $664 million, or $1.52 per diluted and adjusted share, for the period ended Sept.
30. That compared to $1.46 per diluted share, or $659 million, a year earlier on revenue of $2.3 billion.
Analysts had expected adjusted earnings of $1.51 per share.
