National rail firm makes €330.7 million net loss

The national rail company SNCB/NMBS has recorded a net loss of €330.7 million in 2013, more than double the loss it made in 2012. The heavy loss has been attributed largely to the company writing off €134 million from its concern in the independent logistics subsidiary SNCB/NMBS Logistics. The financial results, which have been approved by the board of directors, also show that the Italian rail manufacturer AnsaldoBreda has not yet paid a contractual fine of €12.7 million for the late delivery of three Fyra trains to the rail company. SNCB/NMBS has written off the fine.

Last year the debt of the company rose from €2.7 billion to €2.8 billion. On an operational level, domestic traffic decreased slightly (-0.2%) to €611.3 million, while ticket sales recorded an increase of 1.7% to €214.5 million. The rail company intends to come up with a plan to save SNCB/NMBS Logistics which has been heavily loss-making for years but is now showing signs of recovery.