Charles W. Moorman
Analyst · Justin Yagerman of Deutsche Bank
Thank you, Michael, and good morning, everyone. It is my pleasure to welcome you to our fourth quarter 2013 Earnings Conference Call. With me today are several members of our senior team, including our President, Jim Squires; our Chief Marketing Officer, Don Seale; our Chief Operating Officer, Mark Manion; and Marta Stewart, our Chief Financial Officer. I am pleased to announce that Norfolk Southern had an excellent fourth quarter. We achieved fourth quarter record highs in revenues, income from operations, net income and earnings per share. As you know, these fourth quarter results capped an outstanding 2013 performance and led to record results for the full year including all-time highs for revenues, operating ratio, income from operations and earnings per share. Looking at our top line. Revenues for the fourth quarter were $2.9 billion, an increase of $197 million or 7%. Overall volumes rose 4% as a decline in coal volumes was more than offset by growth in merchandise and Intermodal traffic. For the full year revenues were $11.2 billion, a 2% increase over 2012 despite a 12% decline in coal revenue. And as usual, Don will provide you with all of the revenue details in a few minutes. The combination of volume increases coupled with our continued focus on expense control resulted in net income for the quarter of $513 million, up 24% year-over-year and diluted earnings per share of $1.64, up 26%. For the full year net income and earnings per share increased 9% and 12%, respectively. Marta will provide you with all of the financial details. The railroad ran extremely well in the fourth quarter. This was a continuation of the superior service levels we maintained for all of 2013 with sustained high metrics in network velocity and terminal dwell throughout the year. These metrics were, in turn, were important drivers in our ability to maintain a high average composite service index. And as we have said many times before, an efficiently run network helps in our efforts to keep expenses under control. Mark will give you all of the fourth quarter operating results. In 2014, we will continue our focus on improving customer service and running our network efficiently. Part of that plan is strong capital investment and Marta will provide you some details of our planned $2.2 billion capital program. At this point, I'll turn the program over to Don and the rest of the team, and I'll return with some closing remarks before we take questions. Don?