Clarence Gooden
Analyst · JPMorgan
Thank you, Michael, and good morning, everyone. With the economy in its second year of expansion, positive trends continue to support profitable growth across all the businesses that we serve. The manufacturing sector continued to expand, as reflected in a reading of 61.2, with the latest Institute For Supply Management index. Recall that a score above 50 indicates expansion. This is the 20th consecutive month of expansion. At the same time, inventories still remain below target levels. The March ISM report on customer inventories registered an index score of 39.5, a score below 50 indicates responders believe that their customers' inventories are too low. As we continue to see increasing demand for rail service, we remain focused on capturing the value of rail transportation, and we continue to be committed to delivering an even safer and more reliable service product for our customers. Now let's turn to the next slide and review the results. CSX revenue increased 13% to a record $2.8 billion. As you can see on the chart, volume increases drove $173 million of year-over-year revenue growth. Also, the combined effect of rate and mix accounted for $86 million of the increase, reflecting yield gains across most markets as we continue to sell the compelling value of rail transportation. Finally, as you look further to the right, the impact of higher fuel costs increased our fuel reimbursement, $60 million in the quarter. Let's turn to the next slide and take a closer look at the volume growth. Looking to the bottom of this chart, you can see the total volume increase 7% versus the same period last year. This overall rate of growth exceeded that of the overall economy, with broad based strength across all major markets. As you can see on the chart, Intermodal is the fastest-growing market, and this market is becoming a larger part of CSX's business portfolio, accounting for 35% of the total volume in the quarter. Now turning to Slide 8, revenue per unit increased by 5%, driven by price, mix and increased fuel recovery. Same-store sales pricing increased 7%. Recall the same-store sales are defined as shipments with the same customer, commodity and cartop and the same margin and destination. These shipments represent approximately 75% of the CSX traffic base. In addition, fuel recovery increased revenue per unit. Finally, partially offsetting these 2 favorable drivers was the effect of mix changes, reflecting the strong growth in the Intermodal business and the continued impact of termination of a purchase transportation agreement in 2010. Overall, the increased yields reflect the substantial value of rail transportation. As such, we continue to expect core price increases to exceed rail inflation on a sustainable basis. And now, let's look at each of the major markets that we serve starting with coal. Coal revenue improved 19%, driven by 3% volume growth and an increase in revenue per unit. The increase in revenue per unit reflects an improvement in yield, higher fuel recovery and positive mix. On the domestic side, utility demand weakened, as electrical generation declined in the eastern United States, most significantly in the Southeast. Natural gas prices remained at low levels, leading to continued displacement of coal at some utilities. Utilities stockpiles declined year-over-year yet they remain at or slightly above normal levels. Export coal grew year-over-year, as demand was strong for U.S. coal shipments to Europe, Asia and South America. For the first quarter, CSX shipped almost 11 million tons of coal to the export market. Looking at the full year, we expect to ship about 40 million tons to the export coal market, driven by improving global demand and evolving supply constraints outside of the United States. Those domestic utility volumes will remain soft, overall coal volumes are expected to continue to grow. Now turning to our Intermodal results. Intermodal revenue increased 4%, on record first quarter volumes. International volume grew 24% due to stronger U.S. economy and due to new international customers gained as a result of expanded service and network offerings. Domestic volumes were up slightly and continued to improve as container capacity in the overall truck market tightens. Turning to the revenue per unit, while Intermodal had higher fuel reimbursement and increased price in both sectors, this was more than offset by mix and the impact of the termination of our prior purchase transportation agreement. The impact of this event has now cycled a full year of reporting. Looking forward, we continue to see strong demand to convert domestic freight off of the highway, driven by tighter over-the-road truck capacity. Additionally, the pace of international imports remains strong, and we continue to see demand in new markets. Finally, we are making strategic investments in the Intermodal business, including the National Gateway initiative and the Northwest Ohio intermodal facility, which began operations during the quarter. These investments will sustain the long-term intermodal growth while producing benefits across all of CSX's train networks. Turning to the next slide, let's look at the merchandise markets. The merchandise markets show revenue growth across all 3 sectors. Within the agricultural sector, revenue growth was driven by improved fertilizer volumes as farmers increased application to improve yield. These shipments were lower year-over-year, primarily due to a surge in exports last year due to the drought in South America. Within the industrial sector, all 3 markets had significant revenue growth. Automotive shipments increased home growth in North American light vehicle production. Increased vehicle production also lead to greater shipments of both sheet steel and chemical products. Overall industrial growth also lead to the increased consumption of scrap steel and chemicals. Finally, within the housing and construction sector, forest products volumes grew despite the weakness in construction-related markets. Growth in this sector was primarily driven by increased shipments of pulp, board and paper used in packaging of consumer products and increased mineral and waste shipments. Turning to the next slide, let's look at the overall merchandise summary across these sectors. Overall, merchandise revenue increased 12% driven by a 7% increase in volume and 5% higher revenue per unit. Volume growth was led by 20% growth year-over-year in automotive, as well as 12% growth in emerging markets, 10% growth in forest products and 9% growth in metals. Revenue per unit increased due to higher yields and increased fuel recovery. Looking forward, we expect continued growth in the automotive demand despite the supply chain impacts from the disaster in Japan. We also expect growth to continue across the metals and chemical markets as a result of increased auto demand and the growing economy. Finally, while we anticipate continued weakness in the housing market, we do expect continued growth in the pulp, board, mineral and waste shipments and other lines of business. Now let me wrap up on the next slide. Looking ahead, discussions with our customers and key leading indicators suggest economic growth will continue throughout 2011 and beyond. With this as a backdrop, CSX volume growth in 2011 is expected to exceed both gross domestic product and industrial production. As such, the volume outlook is favorable across all 3 major markets, merchandise, intermodal and coal. Overall, core pricing gains are expected to exceed rail inflation, with increases across all markets, which enables continued investment in rolling stock and infrastructure to support long-term growth. Given what we are accomplishing, we remain confident that CSX stands out as a compelling value for customers, especially as they seek transportation providers that also offer environmental solutions. Thank you, and now let me turn the presentation over to David to review our operating results.