CEO Review H1/2025

15.8.2025

CEO Elisa Markula

“Our profitability remained strong in the second quarter, supported by growing passenger volumes and a stable operational environment. Comparable net sales decreased by 5% due to the expiry of a few tendered traffic contracts. However, our comparable operating result remained at a good level, reaching EUR 36.7 (34.6) million. Our profit improvement measures were successful, and operational efficiency improved.

The number of journeys on domestic long-distance trains continued to grow during the second quarter, with more and more leisure travellers choosing the train. Net sales in long-distance traffic increased, boosted by our acquisition in Sweden. However, track works and traffic disruptions weakened profitability compared to the comparison period. In Finland, customer experience reached an excellent level, with an NPS of 56 (44).

VR City Traffic improved its comparable operating result in the second quarter, although the result remained negative due to the low profitability of older, long-term contracts. Revenue declined following the expiry of a few tendered traffic contracts. New contracts won in Sweden will begin later this year, supporting our strategic goal of profitable growth in the competitive Swedish market.

Transport volumes at VR Logistics increased by 12% in the second quarter. Profitability remained at the previous year’s level, and comparable revenue increased by 5% year-on-year, despite growing market uncertainty towards the end of the quarter. We have continued our focused efforts to develop our services by improving delivery reliability, strengthening customer cooperation, and investing in low-emission solutions.

Our strategy focuses on profitability, growth, and building a value-driven culture. Our goal is to achieve EUR 250 million in profit improvement measures by the end of 2027. This will ensure our future competitiveness and enable nearly EUR 1 billion in rolling stock investments. We have progressed as planned with our profit improvement programme.

To enable future tendering of publicly funded passenger rail traffic in Finland, VR has established a rolling stock company for tendered rail traffic. The rolling stock currently used in this traffic, and owned by VR, will be transferred to this new company. The establishment of the rolling stock company is based on the Finnish Government Programme and the policy outlined by the Government’s Economic Policy Committee, which VR has implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Transport and Communications and the Prime Minister’s Office’s ownership steering. The company is expected to be fully transferred from VR to state ownership during 2025.

VR actively supports the promotion of competition in rail transport and is committed to building a sustainable and competitive transport system for the benefit of society as a whole. We continue to focus on our core business as a provider of passenger transport and rail logistics services. As part of this strategic direction, we continued the sale of station properties during the review period and have also sold used rolling stock to other operators in the industry.

Building a future-proof VR is our shared goal. We have already made significant progress and will continue this work together with all our personnel. A warm thank you to our employees for their valuable contribution. We also thank our customers for their trust and cooperation – together we are building a functional and competitive transport system that serves all of society.”