Kansas City Southern (KCS) has reported full year results for 2018. Year-end revenues totalled $2,714m, up 5.1% year-over-year on carload growth of 2%. Operating income grew 7.0% to $986.3m. Net income was $629.4m, down from $963.9m the previous year.
By vertical sector, KCS experienced carload volume growth in Chemical & Petroleum, Intermodal and Automotive, up 8.9%, 5.7% and 4.1% respectively. However, there were declines in Industrial & Consumer Products (-1.5%), Agriculture & Minerals (-0.1%) and Energy (-14.8%).
President and Chief Executive Officer Patrick J. Ottensmeyer, stated, “While we delivered record revenues, adjusted operating income and adjusted earnings per share, 2018 did not meet our own expectations for financial or operational performance. In addition, we did not meet the expectations of our customers or shareowners, particularly in the areas of customer service and growth. KCS has entered 2019 with a renewed and heightened focus on operational excellence. Throughout the year, we will implement principles of the Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR) methodology that are most applicable to our network. We expect this focus on operational excellence and PSR principles to help drive improvement in asset utilization, cost and capital efficiency and customer satisfaction.
Source: Kansas City Southern
