VTG reports slight increase in revenue and new business

The Hamburg-based wagon hire and rail logistics company VTG Aktiengesellschaft increased its revenue slightly in the first half of 2012. Revenue rose by 1.6 percent, from EUR 373.8 million to EUR 379.9 million. Operating profit (EBITDA) fell slightly, by 2.3 percent, to EUR 82.0 million, while operating cash flow rose 6.6 percent to EUR 64.9 million. Additionally, with two new major long-term contracts, VTG is continuing to perform a substantial number of rail transports of goods. The new contracts are with the international commodity trading corporation Glencore and the German aluminum producer Novelis.

“In view of the unsettled environment and the clouding of the economy, we are basically satisfied with the results for the first half year, although we had set our bar a little higher”, explains Dr. Heiko Fischer, CEO of VTG Aktiengesellschaft. “A whole range of individual items such as increased costs for maintenance and human resources, higher levels of depreciation from investment in wagons and interest charges from the new financial structure affected the result. However, we also managed to generate new business and thereby lay the foundation for future growth in addition to demonstrating clearly the competitiveness of rail freight transport”, says Fischer.