Norfolk Southern 3Q Earnings Plunge

SAMANTHA BOMKAMP

NEW YORK (AP) — Norfolk Southern Corp., one of the country's biggest railroad operators, said Tuesday its third-quarter earnings plunged 41 percent as shipments sank for everything from coal for power plants to retail goods.

The sluggish results were widely expected and in line with earnings reports from other rails earlier this month. But the railroad also offered cautious optimism that the country is at the beginning of economic recovery. Like eastern rival CSX Corp., Norfolk Southern also thinks that the economy bottomed in the second quarter.

But CEO Wick Moorman said there was "sediment in the crystal ball," echoing other forecasters who are still unsure how long it will take the nation to climb out of the recession. Railroads tend to be a key indicator of economic health because they carry a wide variety of everyday goods.

Norfolk Southern, based in Norfolk, Va., earned $303 million, or 81 cents per share, compared with $520 million, or $1.37 per share in the third quarter of 2008. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters forecast 78 cents per share.

Revenue dropped 29 percent to $2.06 billion from $2.89 billion a year earlier.