VR Group’s net result improved from first half of year

VR Group’s net turnover increased moderately in third quarter. The net result for the third quarter showed a marked improvement from the first half of the year, and Passenger Services and Infrastructure Engineering both increased their net turnover.

Infrastructure Engineering won some major contracts during the quarter, which have a significant impact on the company’s financial prospects. Net turnover for Logistics was down on the previous year mainly due to the decline in demand caused by the economic situation. VR Group had a net turnover of M€ 378.5 (374.1) in the third quarter and M€ 1,071.8 (1,057.1) in the first nine months of the year.

Cumulative growth in net turnover was 1.4 %. The operating profit in the third quarter was M€ 39.2 (25.5) and from the beginning of the year M€ 24.6 (22.0). VR Group’s net result for the third quarter was M€ 29.1 (18.4) and for the first nine months M€ 18.3 (15.0). The third quarter operating profit includes capital gains from the sale of the groupage logistics business.

“The Group’s net result is still weak, but we’re making progress in the right direction. The changes made in services and structures have improved the net result. The number of passengers is rising and infrastructure engineering has a strong competitive position. The economic situation for export industries has a big impact on the net result for Logistics,” states President and CEO Mikael Aro .

Number of journeys increased, punctuality improved Net turnover for Passenger Services in the quarter totalled M€ 128.7 (125.1), increasing 2.9 % from the previous year. The nine month net turnover was M€ 380.3 (366.0). A total of 23.1 million journeys were made in Passenger Services during the quarter, which is an increase of 2.4 % from the previous year.

The biggest growth was in rail services to and from Russia and in road services. The encouraging passenger volumes for the Allegro trains contributed to the growth in journeys to and from Russia, and the new service routes that began at the beginning of the year in the Helsinki metropolitan area were a main factor in the growth in road services. VR’s customer loyalty programme Veturi has rapidly become very popular.

Started in autumn 2011, within one year more than 180,000 people had joined the programme, and the number is increasing all the time. The proportion of long-distance ticket sales accounted for by Passenger Services’ self-service channels has increased sharply this year. By the end of September they accounted for 49 % of all long-distance ticket sales. The punctuality of rail services improved from the previous year. During the first nine months of the year, 87.0 % (76.7 %) of long-distance trains and 93.9 % (93.3 %) of commuter trains arrived at their destination on time. In long-distance services a train is counted as late if it arrives five minutes or more after the scheduled time.