(Berlin, July 25, 2013) Deutsche Bahn (DB) recorded a further rise in the number of its passengers in Germany during the first half of 2013. The number of passengers traveling in domestic trains rose by 10 million to 991 million. While revenues posted for the first six months remained mostly stable at € 19.37 billion (0.6 percent less), earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) fell notably by 22.9 percent to € 1.02 billion. DB was primarily affected by gloomier economic conditions around the world. Furthermore, higher costs for personnel and energy, the hard winter, the effects of flooding in Germany, as well as the ongoing shortage of vehicles were additional negative factors for DB. “Our DB2020 strategy serves as our compass, especially during challenging times. Above all else, we made noticeable progress towards achieving our goals of becoming a top employer and environmental leader,” said Dr. Rüdiger Grube, CEO and Chairman of the Management Board of DB AG, during today’s presentation of the first half results in Berlin.
Net capital expenditures rose substantially during the first half of the year by € 190 million to € 1.6 billion. Net financial debt increased compared to the end of the 2012 financial year by 3.8 percent to just under € 17 billion. DB CFO Dr. Richard Lutz noted: “The second half of the year will still be marked by great uncertainties arising from the economy and the aftermath of the floods. However, DB’s good position remains unchanged. This is why we will forcefully tackle the current challenges and keep the Group on its sustained course with our DB 2020 strategy.”
During the period under review volumes sold reported by rail passenger transport rose by 0.9 percent, or 387 million passenger kilometers (pkm), to slightly more than 43 billion pkm. The total number of passengers carried by DB’s bus business increased by 3.7 percent, or 37 million, to 1.05 billion. Volumes sold recorded for the bus business in Germany, however, declined by 3 percent or 130 million pkm to 4.26 billion pkm. Declining numbers of school children and the trend towards greater urbanization had a sustained effect on the number of passengers traveling by bus in Germany.
Rail freight transport reported lower figures for the first half of the year as the volume of goods carried fell from the same year-ago period by 2.8 percent, or 5.6 million tons, to 196.7 million tons. Volumes sold slipped by 4.4 percent to 51.6 billion ton kilometers (tkm).
The number of shipments carried by the DB Schenker Logistics business unit in the European land transport sector fell slightly by 1 percent to 47.3 million. The volume of air freight shipments declined by 2 percent, while the volume of ocean freight shipments also fell slightly by 1.6 percent. The positive development noted for the contract logistics business continued into the first half of the year as revenues rose by 6.9 percent to € 887 million.
Train kilometers on track infrastructure fell in first half of the year 2013 by 1.3 percent to nearly 512 million track kilometers (train-path km). Non-Group railways accounted for 23.5 percent, or 120.4 million train-path km, as their share rose further.