Achieving an EBT of EUR 57.2 million (2014: 58.9 million) with sales of EUR 2.058 billion (2014: EUR 2.073 billion), the Rail Cargo Group was doing well compared internationally also in 2015. The EBIT of EUR 76.6 million (2014: EUR 103.6 million) resulted in an EBIT margin of 3.5 percent, after 4.8 percent in 2014. The consolidated cargo volume amounted to 109.2 million tonnes, one percentage point below last year’s figure.
In the current business year the cargo division of the ÖBB wants at least to repeat the results from 2015, despite the economic headwind and new competitors. In addition to continued internationalisation of traction services for cargo transport, this shall become possible by a cost management program at the amount of EUR 40 million, said Christian Kern Managing Director ÖBB at the presentation of the 2015 results.
A weak economic development, low diesel prices, and declining industrial production present challenging conditions to the cargo transport industry, which is why the Rail Cargo Group is pursuing consequently and successfully the expansion of its operations abroad, accounting already for 40 percent of the transport volume. The recent acquisition of the German rail enterprises EBM Cargo and PCT Private Car Train GmbH was an important move in this direction. Both companies shall help to achieve annual sales from traction services in Germany of more than EUR 100 million soon.
Operating from its domestic markets in Austria and Hungary, the Rail Cargo Group offers customised rail logistics solutions between the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. According to the company, its own branches in 18 Central and Southeast European countries together with a dense network of international partners enables ÖBB’s cargo division to provide secure, environmentally friendly and reliable transport on the railway.
