The České dráhy Group Made a Record-Breaking Profit of Almost CZK 4 Billion Last Year

The consolidated profit before taxation of the ČD Group under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) reached CZK 3.8 billion last year. This is the highest ever profit reported under the IFRS. The financial performance thus improved by CZK 3.4 billion year-on-year. All companies of the ČD Group contributed to this, including the passenger transport segment, which also achieved historically record-breaking results. Huge capital expenditures in new trains continued in this segment, which last year alone reached almost CZK 11 billion.

Last year, České dráhy continued the positive trend started in 2022. “Last year was a period of extraordinary success for our company and confirmed the right way of our strategy. The years 2020 to 2022 were a difficult test for the entire business sector, but we stood up to it and achieved a profit of almost four billion. All the companies in the ČD Group have a share in this result, and I am very pleased that after three years the passenger transport segment operated by the parent company “České dráhy” has also turned a profit. We attracted more than 164 million customers to our trains, who travelled more than 8 billion kilometres with us,” says Michal Krapinec, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Director General of České dráhy. The total profit of the joint-stock company “ČD” amounted to almost CZK 3 billion last year and is thus a major contributor to the historical success of the ČD Group.

Last year, České dráhy carried 164.4 million customers, which is 7.3 million more than in 2022. On average, each customer travelled 49.1 kilometres by train. The passenger transport segment alone generated a pre-taxation result of CZK 623 million in 2023, which means a year-on-year improvement of CZK 751 million. The positive result was driven by passenger transport revenues, which were CZK 1.3 billion higher. The increase in revenues was driven substantially by a higher number of passengers, a long-term trend of longer average travel distances and growing interest in international and premium services with higher yields. These include, for example, a dynamic growth in the number of passengers carried in the international transport of up to several tens of percentage points and a year-on-year increase of approximately one tenth in the number of passengers carried in the first carriage class.

České dráhy paid great attention to the modernisation of its rolling stock last year, and invested almost CZK 11 billion in new trains. More than 50 new or modernised vehicles were put into service – RegioPanter electric multiple units, RegioShuttle RS1 railcars or Vectron locomotives. The year also saw the continuous production of RegioFox diesel units and ComfortJet express trains, which are scheduled for delivery this year. The company will continue to upgrade its rolling stock and improve services in the future as well. More than a hundred units and locomotives – RegioPanters, RegioFoxes, ComfortJets and Vectrons – are scheduled for delivery this year. The new trainsets will add more than 22,000 modern seats in air-conditioned trains to the České dráhy’s rolling stock this year.

“The new trains are essential for us and it is possible to sum up that what we earn is directed just to their purchase. They are a guarantee of higher demand for our services and it is the sales revenues from our customers, which are the main contributor to our current profits. These are both passengers using train transport and the clients ordering train transport services, i.e. the regional authorities and the state. Even though a part of the capital expenditures was financed from external sources and there was a slight increase in indebtedness, the ratio of debt to the operating profit (EBITDA) conversely decreased significantly. This is proof of the health of our Group’s financial policy,” adds Michal Krapinec.

In 2023, České dráhy continued to improve and expand its service offering in the digital environment, especially in the My Train application. The coverage of the on-board Wi-Fi network is continuously growing; its offer was extended by approximately 900 connections during the year to a total of 4,026 connections, of which 489 are long-distance train services. In the area of servicing, a comprehensive modernisation of the Prague-South Maintenance Centre was launched. This investment will require approximately CZK 5 billion over several years. At the same time, other projects were being prepared, the construction of which is scheduled to start this year. These projects include new facilities, including modern through-pass halls for the maintenance of modern trains in Cheb or Havlíčkův Brod.

Freight transport was profitable last year as well

ČD Cargo generated a pre-taxation profit of CZK 733 million. The company thus increased its profit before taxation by CZK 423 million year-on-year. The improved results were achieved primarily due to the continued growth in performance abroad and an increase in realised prices, which offset price increases for most cost inputs. “We continue in our long-term strategy of expansion into foreign markets, where ČD Cargo’s performance is growing by tens of percentage points,” says Tomáš Tóth, Chairman of the Board of Directors of ČD Cargo. Transport outputs grew at both branch plants in Austria and Germany, while the traditional higher transport outputs were recorded by the CD Cargo Poland and CD Cargo Slovakia subsidiaries. “The expansion abroad is, among other things, a response to the growing demands of our customers for international transport and the increasing pressure on quality and reliability. Already more than 60% of our transport operations are international. This means that they either only originate, terminate, transit or do not pass through the Czech Republic at all,” adds Tomáš Tóth.

The volumes of goods transported on railway lines in the Czech Republic decreased in 2023. In total, ČD Cargo transported more than 59.4 million tonnes of goods, which represents a year-on-year decrease of 4.8 million tonnes. The performance of the domestic transport market was mainly affected by a sharp decline in the transport of fossil fuels to power stations and heating plants. “While we transported 12 million tonnes of energy generation coal in 2022, last year it was just under eight million tonnes, and the decline is continuing quickly, following the pace of the sector decarbonisation,” Tomáš Tóth comments on the market situation and at the same time states: “The structure of the goods transported by rail is gradually beginning to change. Therefore, in addition to traditional commodities, we are now also focusing on the slowly developing transport of biomass, solid alternative fuels, waste and other products of the circular economy, which could partially replace the absence of transport of energy generation coal in the future. The year 2023 was a very difficult year for all rail carriers in Europe. I am all the more appreciative of the fact that, together with our subsidiaries, we have managed to achieve an after-taxation profit of CZK 326 million, which allows us to continue the necessary renewal and modernisation of our rolling stock.”

The ČD Group's annual report is available in the Financial Reports section.