Canadian Pacific's coal segment received a boost in the first quarter, with a jump in revenue and volumes, while overall revenue dropped, railroad executives said during their first-quarter earnings call.
"Coal revenues were up 9% while volumes were up 19%, as the supply chain executed very well and we lapped port maintenance issues that had occurred in Q1 2020," John Brooks, executive VP and CMO, said during the call late April 21.
While coal revenue totaled $163 million, carloads were approximately 72,000 and the freight per carload averaged $2,264, down 4% year on year.
"Aside from the challenging winter weather conditions in February, January came in significantly above our high expectations, and March was an all-time record month for us," Brooks said of the quarterly results.
Total CP revenue was almost $2 billion in the first quarter, down 4.1% year on year. Net income was $602 million, jumping 47.2% from the year-ago quarter.
"The demand environment across most of our business lines continues to strengthen," Brooks said. "And I'm frankly super excited and more excited than I was coming out of Q4 on what this year is going to shape up to be."
Looking ahead, Brooks sees opportunities across the board, adding that he expects a strong Q2 and double-digit growth in Q3.
