The income of Russian Railways at the end of 2023 was a record

The Russian Railways holding received record revenues of 3 trillion rubles at the end of 2023, recording growth in both the freight and passenger segments. Expenses, the holding notes, grew at a lower rate than income, as a result of which annual net profit exceeded 170 billion rubles. However, according to analysts, the outpacing of revenue growth over expenses will end this year and, most likely, the monopoly will face another record in revenue, but profits will be significantly lower.

The Russian Railways holding (includes Russian Railways OJSC and 94 subsidiaries, among the largest are the Federal Passenger Company, an operator of long-distance passenger transportation, the Federal Freight Company, a large wagon operator, etc.) received total income of 3.02 trillion rubles. for 2023, which is 16% more than a year earlier. About it reported holding, announcing the year’s results according to IFRS. This, as the head of Russian Railways OJSC Oleg Belozerov said, speaking at the board of the Ministry of Transport on March 29, is “a historical record of income.” The revenue of JSC Russian Railways separately according to RAS, as the company reported in early March, increased by 16.4%, to 2.61 trillion rubles.

The main share of the result obtained by the holding (74%) is income from freight transportation and providing access to infrastructure.

They increased by 16.6%, to 2.24 trillion rubles. The indexation of the freight transportation tariff in 2023 was carried out twice – by 10% from January 1 and by 10.75% from December 1, which contributed to the results of the last month of the year (see “Kommersant” dated September 25, 2023). In the financial plan for 2023, revenue from freight transportation was expected at a lower level (2.07 trillion rubles, of which 260 billion rubles due to tariff indexation). In 2024, according to the financial plan approved at the end of 2023, the monopoly expects revenue from freight transportation in the amount of 2.48 trillion rubles.

Income from passenger transportation grew even faster – by 23.3%, to 356.1 billion rubles. As reasons for the increase, the holding lists the restoration of passenger turnover, which increased by 11%, to 136.2 billion passenger kilometers, and the indexation of tariffs in the regulated segment – by 8.1% from January 1 and by 10.75% from December 1, 2023 .

The holding’s operating expenses, it said, grew at a lower rate than income and amounted to 2.6 trillion rubles. (growth by 12.7% compared to 2022). In particular, the company reports that it indexed wages three times during the year, the total indexation amount was 7.95%, taking into account pre-indexation for 2022.

The net profit of the Russian Railways holding amounted to 170.1 billion rubles, an increase of 51% by 2022.

The ratio of net debt to EBITDA at the end of the year is 2.4.

In 2024, the investment program of Russian Railways should amount to 1.27 trillion rubles. JSC Russian Railways (excluding subsidiaries, in particular FPC, which accounts for a significant part of revenue from passenger transportation) plans to receive about 2.7 trillion rubles. income from transportation activities. At the same time, in the cargo segment, loading growth is planned by 2.7% by 2023, to 1265.4 million tons. While, based on the results of two months, loading is falling, the reduction was 2.9% by January-February 2023.

According to the head of Infoline-Analytics, Mikhail Burmistrov, the current level of indexation of railway tariffs no longer allows maintaining faster growth of income relative to expenses. Therefore, he believes, in 2024 we will see a situation where there will be no accelerated growth. The situation with the drop in loading is obvious: of course, there are prerequisites for reaching zero, but it is likely that this will not be easy. At the same time, an increase in expenses is expected – on transport security, on wage indexation, plus large construction projects are beginning to move actively. In other words, Mr. Burmistrov believes, in terms of income, most likely, at the end of 2024 there will be a historical record, but in terms of profit the situation will worsen.

Natalya Skorlygina