The Hamburg wagon hire and rail logistics company VTG Aktiengesellschaft saw a continued upward trend in business in the first half of 2011.
Revenue for the first six months of 2011 was €373.8 million, representing a year-on-year increase of 21.7%.
Operating profit (EBITDA) rose by 11.8%, to €83.9 million.
Operating cash flow, at €60.9 million, was 6.1% lower than in the same period of the previous year.
This was primarily due to an increase in receivables as a result of the increased volume of business.
Based on the positive trend in business, the Executive Board re-affirms its expectation that VTG will achieve levels of revenue and EBITDA for the year 2011 at the higher end of the ranges forecast.
“Despite the current fluctuations in the capital markets, we have succeeded in achieving the necessary conditions for pushing ahead on our path of growth. The new financing for the Group at the right time has given us the flexibility to continue to pursue market opportunities as they arise”, explains Dr. Heiko Fischer, CEO of VTG Aktiengesellschaft.
VTG refinanced its financing arrangements in early May, with a US private placement and a syndicated loan.
“The takeovers of the wagon hire company Sogerent and the Railcraft group of companies affirm our pursuit of our strategy of growth, enabling us to access new international customers and markets”, adds Fischer.
In Wagon Hire, the first six months saw stable growth and a continued high level of demand.
Accordingly, capacity utilisation at the end of the first half of the year has risen for the fifth consecutive quarter.
As of June 30, 2011, it reached a level of 90.8% compared with 87.4% for the same period of the previous year.
Revenue in this division rose by 3.1%, from €142.6 in the first half of 2010 to €147.1 million.
The VTG Group continued on its path of growth with the takeover of the Italian wagon hire company Sogerent, with a fleet of 300 wagons, and of the Railcraft group of companies, with a fleet of 870 mineral oil wagons of standard Russian design.
Moreover, with the Railcraft takeover, VTG has entered the Baltic market and that of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the world’s second-largest rail transport market.
In the Rail Logistics Division there was an increase in demand for transport services, due in part to the positive trend in business in eastern and southeastern Europe.
Other factors that contributed to this improved trend were the addition of the Polish subsidiary to the group of consolidated companies, due to its increasing importance for operations, and the acquisition of the rail logistics company TMF in 2010.
As of June 30, 2011, revenue in Rail Logistics stood at €149.4 million. This represents an increase of 55.5% on the same period of the previous year (€96.1 million).
