SNCF improved its first half Ebitda by 16% from €1.66bn last year to €1.92bn this year. SNCF also says it has achieved €400m in productivity gains during the first half of 2017 representing 60% of the annual target of €670m.
SNCF attributes its improved performance to four key factors:
• its commercial policy based on new offers and low fares
• an improvement in the French economy
• a 3.7% increase in sales at SNCF Logistics, and
• acceleration of upgrading works on the network with €2.3bn spent during the first half of 2017 of which €1.6bn was financed by SNCF Network - SNCF plans to invest €34bn in the core network between 2017 and 2026.
However, overall investment fell from €4bn in the first half of 2016 to €3.88bn in the first half of 2016.
SNCF recorded strong increases in passenger traffic during the first half of this year with rises of 8.4% for TGV, 20% for Ouigo low-fare high-speed services, 4.2% for Intercity, 4.7% for TER regional services, and 2% for Paris commuter services, while Eurostar set a new record carrying more than 5 million passengers.
SNCF Mobility continued to reduce its debt from €8.2bn on June 30 2016 to €7.97bn on December 31 2016 and €7.7bn on June 30 2017, while SNCF Network’s net debt on June 30 2017 was €46.1bn, which it says is a €1.2bn improvement over the 2016 year-end figure.
