News: UPDATE 1-Australian rail haulage company Aurizon sees $240 mln earnings hit

(Adds CEO comment, breakdown of charges, shares)

SYDNEY, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Australian rail freight company Aurizon Holdings Ltd (AZJ) said on Tuesday that it would take about A$321 million ($242 million) of one-off charges, including impairments and significant items, when it reports half-yearly earnings.

Aurizon said in a statement that it expects to report underlying pre-tax earnings between A$900 million and A$950 million for the six months to Dec. 31, 2016, but that it was taking the one-off costs as a result of an ongoing review of operations.

"A key focus is getting the company's core business right and continuing momentum with the transformation program," said Chief Executive Officer Andrew Harding.

"We will take a very disciplined approach to managing costs and capital to ensure we drive shareholder value."

The company said it would recognise asset impairments of A$162 million on its bulk commodities freight business because of rising costs even as freight volumes rose 10 percent in the six month period, compared to the same period a year earlier.

It said it was taking another A$64 million impairment charge for an investment in a technology-led freight management planning system, which the company was terminating because of the risk of cost overruns and delays.

The company was taking another A$85 million one-off hit for a previously announced redundancy program. The company said it laid off 494 employees in the first half of fiscal 2017.

It was taking another A$10 million charge as it shut down some assets due to cancelled contracts.

Aurizon reports half-yearly results on Feb. 13. Aurizon issued the statement before start of sharemarket trading on Tuesday. On Monday its shares closed at A$4.91, their lowest close since Dec. 19.

($1 = 1.3245 Australian dollars)