Development in the first half of 2018
- Revenue growth from price adjustments and increased train-path demand.
- Increased maintenance expenses.
- Higher personnel expenses.
DB Netze Track | H1 | Change | |||
2018 | 2017 | absolute | % | ||
Punctuality DB Group (rail) | 93.9 | 94.5 | – | – | |
Punctuality (rail) in Germany 1) (%) | 93.3 | 94.2 | – | – | |
Train kilometers on track infrastructure | 539.3 | 533.5 | +5.8 | +1.1 | |
thereof non-Group railways | 172.2 | 164.3 | +7.9 | +4.8 | |
share of non-Group railways (%) | 31.9 | 30.8 | – | – | |
Total revenues (€million) | 2,720 | 2,652 | +68 | +2.6 | |
External revenues (€million) | 754 | 746 | +8 | +1.1 | |
share of total revenues (%) | 27.7 | 28.1 | – | – | |
EBITDA adjusted (€million) | 815 | 815 | – | – | |
EBIT adjusted (€million) | 483 | 389 | +94 | +24.2 | |
Operating income after interest | 375 | 250 | +125 | +50.0 | |
ROCE (%) | 5.3 | 4.4 | – | – | |
Capital employed as of Jun 30 (€million) | 18,193 | 17,780 | +413 | +2.3 | |
Net financial debt as of Jun 30 (€million) | 9,330 | 10,092 | –762 | –7.6 | |
Redemption coverage (%) | 15.9 | 14.1 | – | – | |
Gross capital expenditures (€million) | 2,634 | 2,907 | –273 | –9.4 | |
Net capital expenditures (€million) | 545 | 525 | +20 | +3.8 | |
Employees as of Jun 30 (FTE) | 46,371 | 44,717 | +1,654 | +3.7 |
1) Non-Group and DB Group train operating companies.
Punctuality in Germany declined on the part of both non-Group and DB Group TOCs.
Train kilometers on track infrastructure increased in the wake of higher demand from non-Group customers (especially in freight and regional transport) and from DB Long-
Distance and DB Regional. Lower demand from DB Group freight customers had the opposite effect.
However, economic performance was modest overall. The positive income trend was offset by the increase in personnel and maintenance expenses, leaving adjusted EBITDA unchanged compared to the first half of 2017. Adjusted EBIT showed positive development due to lower depreciation.
- Total revenues increased, with the negative effects of storm Friederike more than offset by price adjustments and increases in demand.
- Other operating income (+6.0%) increased, partly due to higher income from the sale of property, plant and equipment (sale of real estate) and scrap. Less income from compensations for damage and refund of expenses had the opposite effect.
- The cost of materials increased (+2.6%), driven primarily by higher maintenance expenses for quality-related measures and the remediation of severe weather damage.
- The increase in personnel expenses (+5.6%) was primarily attributable to wage adjustments and the higher number of employees.
- Other operating expenses rose (+5.5%), partly because of higher expenses for IT services, grants for third-party facilities and rents.
- Depreciation (–22.1%) decreased following adjustments to useful lives of facilities due to the change from an accounting approach to an economic approach.
Operating income after interest also improved, further supported by lower interest expenses, which led to an improvement in net operating interest.
ROCE improved in the wake of positive profit development, burdened by a slight increase in capital employed.
Net financial debt fell, primarily due to the capital increase at DB Netz AG. This also slightly improved the redemption coverage.
Gross capital expenditures were slightly lower due to the smaller volume relating to German unification transport projects no. 8 (Berlin – Munich line). We expect capital expenditures to expand again significantly in the second half of 2018. Net capital expenditures increased slightly.
The number of employees rose, mainly due to increases to cover existing and future staffing requirements, especially in maintenance and construction projects.