Norfolk Southern’s fourth-quarter profit fell 33% because of the ever-growing costs of the cleanup of last year’s fiery derailment in eastern Ohio, but the railroad did deliver 3% more shipments during the quarter and even without the costs related to that toxic crash its profits still would have been down 14%.
The Atlanta-based railroad said it earned $527 million, or $2.32 per share, during the quarter. That’s down from $790 million or $3.42 per share, a year earlier. Without the $150 million in additional derailment costs, Norfolk Southern would have made $677 million, or $2.83 per share.
The analysts surveyed by FactSet Research predicted that Norfolk Southern would make $2.86 per share, so the results fell just short of that.
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