NEW YORK (Reuters) - Trash hauler Waste Management Inc posted a higher quarterly profit on Thursday that slightly exceeded recently raised Wall Street expectations, helped by pricing, but said its recycling business will reduce fourth-quarter earnings because of volatile commodity prices.
The biggest U.S. trash hauler posted third-quarter earnings of $310 million, or 63 cents per share, compared with $278 million, or 54 cents per share, a year earlier. The results exceeded analyst estimates by 1 cent per share, according to Reuters Estimates.
Earlier in the month, the company said it anticipated earnings of between 62 and 63 cents per share after adjusting for special items.
Revenue rose 3.6 percent to $3.53 billion, in line with its earlier forecast and with Wall Street estimates.
Houston-based Waste Management, which did not immediately provide a fourth-quarter earnings forecast, said it expected its solid waste business to perform very well, calling it "recession resistant." But it said its commodity business could hurt fourth-quarter earnings by about 3 cents a share, because of volatile recycling commodity prices.
The company said in mid-October that it was withdrawing its $6.74 billion bid to acquire No. 3 U.S. trash hauler Republic Services Inc
(Reporting by Helen Chernikoff and Nick Zieminski, editing by Dave Zimmerman)
