Moody's Has Confirmed the Investment Grade Rating with a Stable Outlook for České dráhy

The international rating agency Moody's has confirmed České dráhy’s rating at the Baa2 level in the investment grade, with a stable outlook. The renowned rating agency appreciated in particular the company’s strong position on the Czech railway market and the healthy financial condition of the entire group, even in the current period of record-breaking capital expenditures aimed at the renewal of the rolling stock. České dráhy has had a year of record-breaking economic results. The České dráhy Group achieved a profit of more than CZK 3.8 billion last year.

“Moody's is one of the three most reputable credit rating agencies in the world and makes a very detailed screening of every company which is subject to their assessment, which means that they had all the key information about our performance, risks and development plans at their disposal. I am highly pleased that we have managed to maintain our rating at Baa2, i.e. in the investment grade, even at the time when we are implementing massive capital expenditures aimed at our rolling stock and have to borrow from banks and investors for a part of our investment programmes, which increases the volume of our debts. Thanks to the capital expenditures, however, our operating profit is also growing proportionally, which is crucial for maintaining our rating,” says Michal Krapinec, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Director General of ČD.

Moody's appreciated the strong strategic position of České dráhy in the national railway transport market, both in long-distance and regional transport sectors.

“We are in a period of record-breaking investments aimed at the rolling stock of České dráhy. This year we will invest almost CZK 20 billion. In the next 10 years we plan to purchase new trains worth more than CZK 160 billion in relation to the requirements of the clients ordering transport services. Of course, we will have to borrow for the new trains, because our own resources will naturally not be available in such a volume, but I consider it crucial that we use and will continue to use the borrowed funds exclusively for investments in fixed assets which will generate an additional profit for us, thus maintaining good financial health of the company. There is no other way of how to develop the quality of services provided, also with regard to the historical debt in the capex field,” adds Mr. Krapinec.

Last year, the České dráhy Group achieved a record-breaking profit of CZK 3.8 billion. This is the historically highest profit ever reported under the IFRS standards. The financial performance improved by CZK 3.4 billion year-on-year. All companies of the ČD Group contributed to this excellent result, including the passenger transport segment, which achieved historically record-breaking results as well.

This year will be a record-breaking year for České dráhy in terms of renewing its rolling stock. Up to 140 new electric, diesel and non-traction units and electric locomotives are expected to enter the Czech railway network during the year. If we count each carriage and unit cell separately, this makes approximately 440 individual vehicles. These assets include the most modern ComfortJet long-distance trains as well as new units for regional railway lines known as RegioPanter and RegioFox.