(Berlin, March 21, 2013) Train travel is becoming increasingly popular in Germany. Deutsche Bahn set a new passenger record in 2012 as the total number of passengers traveling via domestic rail transport rose by 49 million. Over the course of the year DB transported a total of 1.97 billion passengers (excluding Arriva). This figure is even more notable as the number of airline passengers on domestic flights declined by 3.8 percent during the same period of time while registrations of new cars in Germany fell by 2.9 percent. In contrast, the winner is the transport mode rail which grew by 4 percent.
DB also increased its revenues and profit again in the financial year 2012. Revenues rose by € 1.4 billion (+3.7 percent) over the same year-ago period to € 39.3 billion, while the adjusted EBIT figure increased by € 399 million (+ 17.3 percent) to € 2.7 billion in 2012. Net capital expenditures grew by 35.7 percent, or € 918 million, to € 3.5 billion. Net financial debt was cut by € 226 million (- 1.4 percent) to € 16.4 billion.
DB hired about 11,000 new employees last year just in Germany alone. This figure was the highest number of new hires noted in the past ten years.
During the presentation of the 2012 annual results in Berlin, Dr. Rüdiger Grube, CEO and Chairman of the Management Board, stated: “More revenues, more profit, more capital expenditures and, above all, a new record number of passengers in our trains. All of these figures show that with our new DB2020 strategy we are on the right track for success.”
Dr. Richard Lutz, DB CFO, noted: “All our business units are profitable. DB Schenker Rail Germany completed its turnaround despite a difficult economic environment. Even if some uncertainties remain for 2013, we remain cautiously optimistic for the current year.”
Passenger transport business posts higher volumes sold
DB’s rail passenger transport business not only recorded more passengers, it also posted an increase in its volumes sold, which rose in 2012 by 4 percent, or 3.1 billion passenger kilometers (Pkm), to 82.4 billion Pkm (excluding Arriva). The number of bus transport passengers in Germany fell again. The 4.1 percent decline in passengers transported to 725.4 million was due to the shrinking number of school children.
Uneven results at transport and logistics
DB’s rail freight transport business faced major challenges, including structurally related issues, last year. Volumes sold in the rail freight transport segment contracted by 5.4 percent to 105.9 billion ton kilometers due to weaker economic conditions. Development was uneven at DB Schenker Logistics as the volume of shipments transported in the European land transport segment remained almost unchanged and declined marginally over the course of the year by 0.5 percent. The volume of air freight shipments weakened by 4.7 percent while the ocean freight segment posted an 8.1 percent increase in shipping volumes. The dynamic pace of growth noted for the contract logistics area of business remained intact as revenues surged by 17.7 percent.
Infrastructure: track kilometers and station stops remain generally stable
Demand for train-path was also affected by economic developments and fell by 1.1 percent to 1.0 billion track kilometers, which was slightly less than the all-time high figure posted in the previous year. Non-Group railways were able to increase their share by 4.9 percent to currently 22.2 percent of total demand for train path. The number of station stops rose by 0.8 percent in 2012.