American Railroad Daily

Canadian Pacific (CP) on Monday announced plans to accelerate funding of future pension obligations through a voluntary prepayment in December of approximately $500 million to the company's Canadian defined benefit pension plan from cash on hand.

"Canadian Pacific remains committed to reducing indebtedness, extending debt maturities and enhancing near-term liquidity," said Kathryn McQuade, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.  "The voluntary pension prepayment will reduce volatility in future pension funding requirements and provides greater predictability in our cash flow."

"The actions we have taken this year in the capital markets, our asset monetization programs and effective cost management initiatives have increased our financial flexibility in a difficult economic climate,"  added Ms. McQuade.

CP now estimates its 2010 pension contributions to be between $150 and $200 million after application of a portion of the prepayment.  This range replaces the previous estimate of $250 to $300 million provided in Management's Discussion and Analysis for Third Quarter 2009, using the same assumptions.