Freight Operator Union Pacific Record Second Quarter Income
Union Pacific Corporation (UP) has reported a net income of $1.5 billion for the second quarter of 2018. This figure equates to $1.98 per diluted share, a record for the freight operator during this period in the financial year. In the second quarter of 2017 UP’s net income was $1.2 billion, or $1.45 per diluted share.
Lance Fritz, Chairman, President and CEO of Union Pacific, said:
“Overall, I am pleased with the effort put forth by the entire Union Pacific team; however, I recognize the results could have been better. Network performance improved significantly coming out of the First Quarter, but a tunnel outage and train-crew shortages created a headwind in June. I am confident we have the right plans in place to drive improvement in our operations and a better service experience for our customers.”
A detailed report on Union Pacific’s costs and revenue for the second quarter of 2018 is available here. In brief, the company reported a 4% increase in total carloads and an 8% increase in revenue from freight in comparison with the same period in 2017. Declines in agricultural products and energy were offset by increases in industrial and premium carloads.
The total operating revenue was $5.7 billion, an increase of 8% on 2017.
During this period Union Pacific also repurchased 33.2 million shares, including 19.9 million shares which it received as part of an accelerated share repurchase programme.
