BVZ Group slowed down by storms in the first half of the year
Published: Tuesday, Sep 10th 2024, 07:40
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Although the railroad and tourism group BVZ increased its revenue in the first half of 2024, it earned less at the same time. The reason for the decline in profits is the weather-related interruption on the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn line between Visp and Zermatt.
Total income rose by 7.4 percent to CHF 103.7 million in the first six months, as the Group announced on Tuesday. Excluding the services received from the public sector, which were slightly lower than in the previous year, market revenue increased by 9.0% to 88.1 million.
In the first five and a half months until the weather-related interruption, business was characterized by brisk travel activity from foreign guests and constant demand from the domestic market, it said. Up until the weekend of June 21 and 22, the Group was on course for record figures.
More Chinese guests
However, the damage caused by the floods in Zermatt, the Mattertal and Goms then led to cancellations and interruptions on the Gornergratbahn and the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn (MGBahn). Operations on the Visp to Zermatt line in particular were only able to resume full service at the end of August. In the meantime, replacement buses were used.
Thanks to the rail replacement, however, the storm had hardly any impact on the frequencies on the MGBahn, which amounted to 4.28 million in the first half of the year. The Gornergrat Railway, on the other hand, counted 10 percent more guests by mid-June than in the same period last year, thanks to rising demand from Japan, China and Taiwan. In the first half of the year as a whole, 404,000 tourists traveled to the Gornergrat, a similar number to the previous year due to the short interruption.
Meanwhile, income from the Furka car transport increased by 4.4 percent to CHF 4.5 million and market income from real estate remained stable at CHF 3.15 million.
Rising costs due to rail replacement
BVZ's operating expenses increased by 8.4 percent to CHF 73.4 million in the first half of the year, while depreciation and amortization rose by more than a quarter to CHF 16.5 million. Meanwhile, operating profit EBIT fell by 13 percent to 13.8 million and net profit by a quarter to 9.47 million.
The decline is due to the subsidized, non-profit mobility business area with services on behalf of the public sector, BVZ emphasized. In the first half of the year, the additional costs in this area amounted to around one million francs after a surplus of 1.9 million francs had been achieved in the previous year. The expenses for the rail replacement had a significant impact here.
"Very well positioned" for the future
According to the information provided, the financial consequences of the storm damage, including rail compensation payments, will only impact the result in the subsidized, non-profit mobility business area for the year as a whole. The dividend-relevant, private areas are not affected by this. They continued to develop positively.
CEO Fernando Lehner, who will be leaving at the end of September, believes that the Group and its products are "very well positioned" for the future. As already announced, he will be succeeded by Egon Gsponer, the current Head of Infrastructure. BVZ intends to adopt key elements of the 2025 to 2028 strategy period by the end of the year.
©Keystone/SDA
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