Development in the first half of 2018
- Increased demand from additional traffic and increased schedule frequencies.
- Rental revenues are driven by price and volume effects.
- Burdens from higher personnel expenses.
- Measures to further reduce energy consumption pressed ahead.
DB Netze Stations | H1 | Change | |||
2018 | 2017 | absolute | % | ||
Facilities quality (grade) | 2.89 | 2.91 | – | – | |
Station stops (million) | 75.1 | 74.8 | +0.3 | +0.4 | |
thereof non-Group railways | 18.2 | 17.9 | +0.3 | +1.7 | |
Total revenues (€million) | 668 | 635 | +33 | +5.2 | |
thereof station revenues (€million) | 437 | 424 | +13 | +3.1 | |
thereof rental (€million) | 200 | 196 | +4 | +2.0 | |
External revenues (€million) | 297 | 273 | +24 | +8.8 | |
EBITDA adjusted (€million) | 228 | 217 | +11 | +5.1 | |
EBIT adjusted (€million) | 158 | 150 | +8 | +5.3 | |
ROCE (%) | 11.0 | 10.5 | – | – | |
Capital employed as of Jun 30 (€million) | 2,886 | 2,859 | +27 | +0.9 | |
Net financial debt as of Jun 30 (€million) | 1,237 | 1,215 | +22 | +1.8 | |
Redemption coverage (%) | 29.2 | 27.5 | – | – | |
Gross capital expenditures (€million) | 291 | 253 | +38 | +15.0 | |
Net capital expenditures (€million) | 138 | 80 | +58 | +72.5 | |
Employees as of Jun 30 (FTE) | 5,649 | 5,404 | +245 | +4.5 | |
The quality of the facilities at passenger stations remained at a good level.
The performance development was marked by a slight increase in the number of station stops. This was mainly due to increased schedule frequencies and additional traffic in regional transport. In particular, the higher demand was driven by non-Group railways.
The economic development was positive: overall, higher income compensated for the increase in expenses, particularly maintenance and personnel expenses, resulting in
an improvement in operating profit.
- The rise in revenues is attributable to higher station revenues as a result of volume and price effects as well as higher revenues from rental. The development of external revenues reflects the growing market share of non-Group railways.
- Other operating income decreased (–4.2%) due to the fact that income from investment grants was higher for seasonal reasons in the first half of 2017.
- The cost of materials increased (+1.6%). Higher maintenance expenses due to the implementation of measures to enhance quality, punctuality and customer satisfaction were partially offset by lower volume-driven energy expenses.
- Personnel expenses (+7.1%) increased significantly, driven primarily by the larger number of employees, alongside collective wage increases.
- The increase in other operating expenses (+9.3%) was partially due to higher rents, increased disposals of property, plant and equipment, and higher IT and communication services, partially as a result of the larger headcount.
- Depreciation increased (+4.5%) in the wake of the larger capital expenditure volume.
The positive EBIT development resulted in an increase in the ROCE since capital employed remained roughly stable.
Net financial debt increased, mainly as a result of higher net capital expenditures.
Operating cash flow was higher as a result of the profit development and improved redemption coverage. Higher net capital expenditures had the opposite effect.
The higher capital expenditures were focused primarily on renovating existing stations and projects under Railway of the Future.
The number of employees rose due to the increase in personnel in construction and facility management.