Freight car maker reports orders up 60%

Freight car maker reports orders up 60%

New York (Platts)--2Aug2005

The increased shipping demands for coal are rippling outward, and FreightCar
America, which makes railroad freight cars for shipping coal and other
materials, displayed the effects in its second quarter results.

In its earnings report for the quarter ended June 30, the company has a 60%
increase in orders for 2Q 2005, compared with 2Q 2004, up to 5,104 units this
year. The total backlog of unfilled orders was 15,867 units at the end of the
quarter, nearly double the backlog on June 30, 2004, the company said. The
company would not release how much of the backlog is for coal cars, retaining
that information as proprietary, a company spokesman told Platts Coal Trader.

The company opened a new railcar manufacturing facility in Roanoke, Va., in
early June that is producing coal hoppers. Two other manufacturing sites
are in operation. That expansion followed the company's initial public
offering in April.

For the second quarter, FreightCar's sales totaled $230.7-mil and net income
was $9.1-mil (76cts/diluted share). In the same quarter in 2004, sales totaled
$94.9-mil with a net loss of $4.3-mil (63cts/diluted share).

EBITDA was $18.4-mil in 2Q 2005, compared with a loss of $0.1-mil in 2Q 2004.
The improvement "reflects increased sales volume, an improved market pricing
environment, operating leverage attributed to higher volume and the impact of
pass-through of increases in raw material costs," the company said.

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