Norfolk Southern’s Profit Grows 47%

Norfolk Southern Corp. said its third-quarter profit increased 47% from a year ago.

The Eastern freight railroad earned $445 million, or $1.19 per share, compared with $303 million, or 81 cents, a year earlier.

“We continue to see an economy characterized by slow growth, but growth nonetheless,” said CEO Wick Moorman.

It was the company's fifth consecutive quarter of year-over-year volume growth.

Railway revenue grew 19% to $2.5 billion and traffic volume increased 15%.

Intermodal revenue gained 19% over a year ago to $464 million. General merchandise revenue increased 16% to $1.3 billion. Coal revenue grew 24% to $709 million.