Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO, CNI) was at last look down 0.6% in after hours New York trading Thursday as it reported lower than expected fourth-quarter earnings and flagged strong growth down the line in 2025, while lifting its dividend.

The company said its adjusted profit, which excludes most one-time items, fell to $1.45 billion, or $1.82 per share, down from $1.31 billion, or $2.02, in the year-prior quarter. The result lagged the consensus FactSet estimate of $2.01 per share.

Revenue slipped 2.5% to $4.358 billion from $4.471 billion, FactSet's consensus estimate was of $4,355.9 million

The railway's operating ratio, a closely watched efficiency measure where lower is better, was 62.6%, an increase of 3.3 percentage points.

"Thanks to our team and the strength of our operating model, we were able to quickly recover from several shocks across the supply chain in 2024. We have good momentum as 2025 begins, and we are well positioned to drive growth with our customers and operating leverage across our system," chief executive Tracy Robinson said in a release.

In 2025, CN expects to deliver 10% to 15% adjusted diluted earning per share growth and plans to invest approximately $3.4 billion in its capital program, net of amounts reimbursed by customers. Over the 2024-2026 period, CN continues to target compounded annual adjusted diluted EPS growth in the high single-digit range.

The company's Board of Directors approved a 5% increase to CN's 2025 quarterly cash dividend, effective for the first quarter of 2025.

In addition, the board approved a new normal-course issuer bid (NCIB) that permits CN to repurchase and cancel 20-million shares over 12 months starting on February 4. CN continues to manage to its adjusted debt-to-adjusted EBITDA target of 2.5 times.

The company's shares were last seen down US$0.60 to US$104.60 after hours. They closed up $0.03 to $152.26 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.