ÖBB transported 323 million passengers last year (including Postbus). That was 35 million more than in the first Corona year 2020, but still 154 million fewer than before the pandemic. ÖBB CEO Andreas Matthä pointed out on Friday that there was still an extensive lockdown in the first half of 2021.
According to the manager, the numbers in long-distance traffic are currently back at the level of 2019, but in local traffic they are still “a bit away”. Working from home keeps people from traveling by train, the high fuel prices and the climate ticket have the opposite effect.
The pre-crisis level was also not reached in freight transport in 2021. 94.1 million tons were 11.2 million tons less transport capacity. Matthä: If you consider the distances as well as the crowd, you are at the 2019 level.
Nervous risk managers in banks
“We are back on course,” said the ÖBB boss. CFO Arnold Schiefer sees a “respectable result” that is fed from all areas of the group. The state-owned company reports earnings before taxes of 170 million euros for 2021. The year before it was 59 million, in 2019 169 million. The fact that the federal railways have left Corona behind here is largely due to state aid. These accounted for 150 million euros – for example with the reduction of the rail user fee and the emergency award on the Westbahn route. Schiefer emphasized that all transport companies would have benefited from Corona aid, which would “slip” this year. In 2020, ÖBB was supported with 200 million euros. This year you have to “talk to the owner” because of the sharp rise in energy costs, says Schiefer.
The chief financial officer thinks it is important for ÖBB to send a “strong signal” to the financial markets with a good result, in order to prevent the “risk managers in the banks from getting nervous”.
ÖBB’s level of debt rose from 26.3 to 27.4 billion euros in the previous year. According to Schiefer, however, around 23 billion come from the infrastructure, they can be assigned one to one to the federal government.
“Be Cunning and Cunning”
In 2021, ÖBB took out around three billion euros in loans, this year it is five billion. Given the prospect of rising interest rates, like other companies, they are trying to be “smart and cunning” in the markets, Schiefer said. A lot is done via the Federal Financing Agency anyway. He continues to see “tailwind” for ÖBB’s investment program from politics and the supervisory boards.
3.7 billion euros were invested in 2021. By 2027, 28 billion are earmarked for rail expansion, the fleet, digitization and renewable energies. ÖBB recently generated almost 40 percent of its energy requirements itself. Matthä: A further 280 gigawatt hours of in-house production from water, sun and wind are to be added by 2030. Around 100 years ago, ÖBB switched from coal to electricity, says Matthä: “As ÖBB, we are now experiencing the second energy transition.”
ÖBB employs almost 42,000 people and almost 1,800 apprentices. Both numbers remained stable, but 3764 new employees were hired in 2021 alone. Matthä: “We are right in the middle of a generation change.”
As in 2020, the ÖBB board members waived a monthly salary last year. (az)
Source: Nachrichten
