Calgary Alberta - Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. notched another series of financial records in the typically difficult winter quarter, including the lowest operating ratio in the company's history.
 
CP's operating ratio, a key measure of efficiency, in which a lower number is better, fell 880 basis points to 63.2 percent.
 
By comparison, competitor Canadian National Railway Co. reported an operating ratio of 65.7 percent in the first quarter.
 
CP also reported record first-quarter profit of $320 million, up 33 percent.
 
Adjusted earnings per share came in at $2.26, well ahead of the $2.17 expected by analysts.
 
Revenue rose 10 percent to $1.67 billion, another first-quarter record.
 
"CP's success in the first quarter of the year is the result of hard work by its people and a business model that responds nimbly to any shift in economic conditions," CEO Hunter Harrison said in a statement Tuesday.
 
"Amid persistent uncertainty in the pace of the North American economic recovery, CP continues to demonstrate the ability to recognize and capitalize on new business opportunities and operational efficiencies."
 
CP said freight revenues for nearly all of the commodities it ships increased in the first quarter, with the exception of crude, automotive, and metals, minerals, and consumer products.

Kristine Owram.