The ČD Group Stating a Profit of Almost CZK 700 Million in the First Half of the Year

The ČD Group achieved a profit before taxation amounting to CZK 694 million in the first half of 2024 under the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). There was an increase in sales by more than CZK 1 billion and in EBITDA by more than CZK 600 million on a year-on-year basis. The main contributor to this was represented by the passenger transport segment, which also grew thanks to the increasing number of passengers carried, which amounted to almost 82 million. In addition to the parent company, other ČD Group companies were also profitable in the first half of the year.

More and more passengers use the services provided by the national carrier, 81.6 million of them travelled with ČD in the first half of this year, which is 2.5 million more than in the same period last year (when this number was 79.1 million). “We have registered an increase by three percentage points on a year-on-year basis in terms of the number of passengers carried. Today and every day it is confirmed that the modernisation of our rolling stock as well as services is bringing more and more customers onto trains, who choose us as a carrier on both domestic and international lines. The increase in passengers has also had a positive impact on passenger transport revenues, which reached CZK 16 billion. Compared to the first half of last year, this is an increase of CZK 1.6 billion,” says Michal Krapinec, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Director General of ČD. In addition to the parent company České dráhy, all subsidiaries were also profitable in the first half of the year and the Group revenues increased by more than CZK 1 billion on a year-on-year basis to CZK 25.4 billion.

Passenger transport

Comprehensive rolling stock modernisation and service improvements have contributed to an increase in the number of customers on both domestic and international lines. International traffic was especially buoyant, with a 23% increase in revenues. This reflected an overall increase in demand and the extension of the offer of night services, which are increasingly popular with passengers. Transport performance in the first half of 2024 reached 3,914 million passenger-kilometres, which represents a year-on-year increase of 8.5% (3,609 million last year). The average transport distance in the first half of the year was 48 kilometres, which is 2.4 kilometres higher on the year-year basis (45.6 last year). The positive development in passenger transport was reflected in an increase in ticket sales revenues, which amounted to CZK 5,022 million, i.e. an increase of CZK 375 million (or 8%, respectively).

The year 2024 is a turning point in the history of České dráhy in the field of renewal and modernisation of the rolling stock. In the first half of the year alone, the company has put into operation 22 new RegioPanter electric multiple units, 15 RegioFox diesel multiple units and 17 Vectron locomotives. “The new vehicles are a guarantee of high comfort and reliability of the services provided by České dráhy. Therefore, we want to continue not only the modernisation of our trains, but also the investments in maintenance and repair facilities are crucial for us. We will also gradually put the biggest innovation in the field of long-distance transport, i.e. the ComfortJet trainsets, on the tracks,” adds Michal Krapinec.

Freight transport

Concerning the domestic freight transport segment, the declining volume of transport of coal and other traditional commodities has had a negative impact, which is partly compensated by the growing performance of ČD Cargo abroad. In the first half of this year, the ČD Cargo Group transported altogether 28.1 million tonnes of goods, compared to 30.9 million tonnes in the same period last year.

“Structural changes in the energy sector and problems in the metallurgy industry appearing not only in the Czech Republic, together with the recession or stagnation of the European industry in recent years, affect the continuous decline in ČD Cargo's performance,” adds Tomáš Tóth, Chairman of the Board of Directors of ČD Cargo, commenting the results, and adds: “It is obvious that the change in the structure of the goods transported is of a permanent nature and leads to a decrease in the volume of goods transported by railway in the Czech Republic. Through an active business policy and expansion abroad, we are managing to replace part of the volumes lost, but we cannot fully compensate for these losses. We are not alone in this situation; most of the most important rail freight carriers in Europe face a similar challenge and, unlike many of them, ČD Cargo remains in profit. However, it will be necessary to continue to adapt our capacities to the current and future needs of the transport market.”

The 2024 Half-Year Report of the ČD Group is available from these web sites.