Canadian Pacific Railway Limited Beats Q4 Views; Sees 25% EPS Growth

Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd.

shares moved higher Thursday after the company forecast 2015 earnings growth of more than 25 percent. The Calgary-based company's shares gained about 2 percent, trading recently in New York at $187.45. Chief Executive E. Hunter Harrison said the company hit its 2016 financial target two years ahead of schedule. "CP fully recognizes the impact of short-term volatility in commodity prices," Harrison said, adding that the company is nonetheless "confident in our ability to execute on our plan going forward.” The portion of revenue consumed by operating costs, or operating ratio, fell to 59.8 percent during the fourth quarter, from 65.9 percent in the year-ago period. CP forecast 2015 earnings growth of more than 25 percent from its 2014 profit of C$8.50 a share. Revenue will grow between 7 percent and 8 percent from 2014's C$6.62 billion, the company said. Wall Street expects 2015 earnings of $11.10 a share on revenue of $7.21 billion. Fourth-quarter net income increased to C$451 million, or C$2.63 a share, from C$82 million or C$0.47 cents a share, while revenue grew 10 percent to C$1.76 billion, from C$1.61 billion. Wall Street expected earnings of $2.58 on revenue of $1.74 billion.