Canadian Pacific Lowers 2015 Outlook After Commodities Cargo Declines
Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. on Tuesday announced the surprise departure of its chairman, Gary Colter, who had held the position for a little more than a year.
Canadian Pacific Railway cut its forecast for full-year revenue and earnings per-share growth while it seeks to control costs amid a decline in demand for commodities shipments.
The company also announced departure of its chairman, Gary Colter, who had held the position for a little more than a year, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Revenue growth is expected to be 2% to 3% in 2015, down from a January forecast of 7% to 8% growth, Canadian Pacific announced in a statement. Annual adjusted, earnings per share will be C$10 to $10.40, less than the $10.63 implied by an earlier forecast for 25% profit growth this year.
With the reigned-in forecast, Canada’s second-largest railroad diverged from other North American peers that have cut jobs to bolster earnings that beat estimates in recent days. Railroads have been battling a slump in coal, oil and grain shipments. Canadian Pacific announced that crude revenue slumped 29% in the second quarter.
Earnings excluding some costs and gains rose 16% to C$2.45 a share, the Calgary-based company said, in line with analysts’ estimates. Revenue was little changed at C$1.65 billion, trailing the C$1.68 billion average estimate.
“CP’s achievement on the bottom line came even as a sluggish North American recovery and stubborn global economic softness weighed on commodity prices, forcing producers to reduce output and cut shipments,” CEO Hunter Harrison said in the statement.
