(Adds analysts' estimate, operating ratio metric and FY18 forecast)
Jan 18 (Reuters) - Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd's CP.TO fourth-quarter profit beat analysts' estimates on Thursday, helped by higher shipments.
CP also said it expects revenue growth in the mid-single digits this year and adjusted earnings per share growth to be in the low double-digits.
The company reported an operating ratio - operating costs as a percentage of revenue - of 56.1 percent for the fourth quarter, down from 56.2 percent a year earlier. The lower the ratio, the more efficient the railroad.
"The fourth quarter was a record by almost every measure..." Chief Executive Keith Creel said in a statement. net income soared to C$984 million ($792 million), or C$6.77 per share, in the quarter ended Dec. 31, from C$384 million, or C$2.61 per share, a year earlier.
The jump in profit was mainly due to an income tax gain of C$527 million related to the new U.S. tax code.
Excluding items, the company earned C$3.22 per share, narrowly beating analysts' estimate of C$3.20, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
The Calgary-based company's total revenue rose about 4 percent to C$1.71 billion. ($1 = C$1.24)