Deutsche Bahn expects 70% drop in operating profit after Schenker sale, documents show (updated)

Dsv A/S

05/12/2024 15:26

(Adds details, context)
    By Markus Wacket
       BERLIN, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Germany's national rail
operator expects its operating profit to fall by some 70%
between this year and next as it completes the sale of its
profitable logistics unit Schenker to Denmark's DSV, according
to company documents seen by Reuters on Thursday.
    In 2024, Deutsche Bahn  DBN.UL  including Schenker expects
an operating profit of 700 million euros ($740.88 million), and
in 2025, after the sale, it expects a result of 200 million
euros, the documents show.
    Deutsche Bahn had hoped to generate earnings before interest
and taxes (EBIT) this year of 1 billion euros but performance
has been dogged by problems in its inter-city network.
        The company declined to comment on the figures on
Thursday.
  
    DSV agreed to buy Schenker for 14.3 billion euros ($15.76
billion), allowing Deutsche Bahn to concentrate on its core
railway business in Germany and reduce its debt, which amounts
to some 33 billion euros.
    After interest payments, Deutsche Bahn's bottom line remains
firmly in the red.
        With the Schenker sale set to reduce its interest
payments on debt, the rail operator aims to deliver a
bottom-line profit of one billion euros by 2027, up from a
projected 500 million euro loss next year.
  
    
($1 = 0.9448 euros)

 (Reporting by Markus Wacket, Writing by Rachel More, Editing by
Friederike Heine)
 ((rachel.more@thomsonreuters.com;))