One of Jacksonville’s largest companies is still expecting a bad first quarter, but not as bad as it first thought.
CSX Corporation said this week its first quarter earnings would decline by the mid- single digits, rather than the high single digits it had previously forecast.
So far this year, its volume growth is down by about 5 percent. Like the rest of the industry, CSX has been battered by a big decline in the amount of coal being shipped.
One way the company has been dealing with the decline is by cutting its workforce. In the first quarter, the number of employees dropped by 2,500 workers.
Those moves, the company’s chief financial officer said, position it well for the future.
