Deutsche Bahn to lose billions in the first half of 2024

According to corporate documents, Deutsche Bahn incurred a loss of more than one billion euros in the first half of 2024. The loss, including interest payments, of the heavily indebted group was 1.2 billion euros, according to documents made available to Reuters on Wednesday. In operating business alone, the loss amounted to 680 million euros.

In the same period last year, Deutsche Bahn made a profit of 331 million euros. A large part of the loss is due to the dilapidated network, into which billions of euros are being invested. However, Deutsche Bahn has made some advance payments to the federal government, which has to pay for most of the network investments. It is therefore expecting significant repayments this year. The company itself did not want to comment and referred to a press conference on Thursday.

Deutsche Bahn is struggling with many problems

In addition to the network, almost all of the company’s other business areas in Germany are also even deeper in the red: long-distance transport with ICE and IC with 230 million euros and freight rail with 260 million euros. This is also reflected in the shrinking revenues. According to the papers, the group as a whole recorded revenues of 22.3 billion euros, compared to almost 25 billion in the first half of 2023.

The only company that made a notable profit was the international freight forwarding company Schenker, which is up for sale. It achieved an operating profit of just over 500 million euros, but this was also 100 million euros less than in the same period last year. However, the company could achieve its annual target of just over one billion euros.

After the operating loss of almost one billion euros in 2023, Deutsche Bahn CEO Richard Lutz had announced an operating profit of one billion euros for the full year 2024. However, this can only be achieved with repayments from the federal government.