Western Railroad Discussion > BNSF Operating Results 2016

Berkshire-Hathway report the following on BNSF for 2016 

                                            2016                            2015                    2014
Revenue (in millions)      $19,829                         21,967                 23,239
Operarting Expenses        13,144                         14,264                 16,237
Operating earnings before
    interest and taxes            6.685                           7,703                   7,002
Interest                                   992                              928                      833
Income Taxes                      2,124                            2,527                  2,300
Net Earnings                   $  3,569                            4,248                  3,869

There was no mention of which categories of shipments that BNSF was up or down just that coal was down 27%

Info from  Berkshire Hatway letter to stockholders

Dale Smith

This is an income statement. Income statements usually are vague and just lump all operating revenue into one category for the simplicity of understanding by stockholders and stakeholders. 

Interesting that interest expense is going up.  The question would be where is all the operating cash flow going.

reno7349 Wrote:
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> Interesting that interest expense is going up.
>  The question would be where is all the operating
> cash flow going.

BNSF regularly issues bonds for general corporate purposes, and to replace older more expensive bonds.

Bloomberg had a piece about the amount of bonded debt BNSF has issued (a high amount), the amount of cash and marketable securities it has on its books (also high), and the fact it pays more for debt than lower rated Norfolk Southern.  Part of that is due to the presumed access of BNSF to Uncle Warren's cash drawer, and part of that is the absence of a revolving credit account.

Cheap compared to its peers