NORFOLK, Va. — A balanced mix of traffic has enabled Norfolk Southern to post solid financial and operating performance in spite of softness in the housing and automotive markets, said Chief Executive Officer Wick Moorman during the company’s 26th annual stockholders meeting, held in Norfolk, Va.
“Our results speak volumes for something that we talk about all the time – the strength of our balanced portfolio of business,” Moorman said. “We’re really seeing two different economies out there in that a large component of our business is very healthy. Our agricultural business and anything having to do with commodities are very strong, along with coal, steel, metals, and some other business. At the same time, we are seeing the ongoing effects of slowdowns in housing-related and automotive-related transportation business.”
Moorman said that factors supporting long-term growth in rail freight demand, including higher fuel prices, increased highway congestion, and truck driver shortages, “all remain in place, and we’re confident that volume growth will resume as the economy rebounds. We continue planning for a future that we have every reason to believe is bright for our company and our industry.”
In official business, stockholders re-elected four directors: Gerald L. Baliles, director of the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia; Gene R. Carter, executive director and chief executive officer of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development; Karen N. Horn, a partner with Brock Capital Group, former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, and former chair and chief executive officer of Bank One, Cleveland, N.A.; and retired Navy Adm. J. Paul Reason, a member of the Naval Studies Board of the National Academy of Sciences, and former commander in chief of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet. Stockholders also ratified the appointment of KPMG LLP as auditors.
— PRNewswire-FirstCall
