Union Pacific profit falls more than expected, shares down

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Union Pacific Corp on Thursday reported a bigger-than- expected drop in quarterly profit, after demand for e-commerce and beer shipments failed to offset weakness in coal and petroleum carloads, and shares fell 3.3%.

The Omaha, Nebraska-based railroad operator’s third-quarter net income was $1.4 billion, or $2.01 per share, down from $1.6 billion, or $2.22 per share, a year earlier.

Total operating revenue fell 11% to $4.9 billion.

Analysts, on average, expected earnings of $2.06 per share and revenue of $4.96 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Shares were down $6.57 to $192.70 in premarket trading.

Earlier this week, Union Pacific said Chief Operating Officer Jim Vena would step down at year end and advise the company through June of 2021.

Vena, a former Canadian National Railway Co executive and turnaround expert, joined the company in January 2019 under a deal with a two-year incentive package. During his tenure, Union Pacific has improved efficiency and reduced costs.

(Reporting by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Steve Orlofsky)