Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad (BNSF) Chairman and CEO Matt Rose spoke with FOX Business Network’s (FBN) Liz Claman in advance of the annual Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, Financial)(BRK.B, Financial) shareholder meeting taking place this weekend. When asked about rumors that he is in line to be Warren Buffett’s successor, Rose replied “I don’t even go there. I am really focused on running the railroad.” Rose went on to express “optimism” about the state of our economy, “at least in the short-term.”
On whether he would run to be Warren Buffett’s successor:
“I don’t even go there. I am really focused on running the railroad. I love running the railroad and that’s really about as far as I will go.”
On whether the railroad has a guaranteed rate of return:
“We do not have a guaranteed rate of return. We are a business that competes against capital. When we look at the economy, it can really be classified as optimism, at least in the short-term. We have got a very good recovery in the industrial economy, I think it is really driven by global demand. Of the 24 businesses we monitor 20 of them are in full recovery. The four that are not are generally related to housing.”
On how higher fuel costs will impact their business:
“We do hedge but not a lot. The reality of our business model says that higher fuel prices actually help the railroad industry up until higher fuel prices really hurt the economy.”
On the coal industry:
“Through about 2013 we will see new coal capacity coming on. After about 2013 there is no new coal plants coming on board. We are going to run into a gap where coal will not grow. It should remain very stable. But we are also exporting quite a bit of coal and we expect our coal exports to grow.”
On whether he would run to be Warren Buffett’s successor:
“I don’t even go there. I am really focused on running the railroad. I love running the railroad and that’s really about as far as I will go.”
On whether the railroad has a guaranteed rate of return:
“We do not have a guaranteed rate of return. We are a business that competes against capital. When we look at the economy, it can really be classified as optimism, at least in the short-term. We have got a very good recovery in the industrial economy, I think it is really driven by global demand. Of the 24 businesses we monitor 20 of them are in full recovery. The four that are not are generally related to housing.”
On how higher fuel costs will impact their business:
“We do hedge but not a lot. The reality of our business model says that higher fuel prices actually help the railroad industry up until higher fuel prices really hurt the economy.”
On the coal industry:
“Through about 2013 we will see new coal capacity coming on. After about 2013 there is no new coal plants coming on board. We are going to run into a gap where coal will not grow. It should remain very stable. But we are also exporting quite a bit of coal and we expect our coal exports to grow.”
