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Development in the year under review
- The Covid-19 pandemic adversely impacted the development of demand and financial key figures.
- Additional burdens on profit development from hygiene, quality and capacity measures.
- Leasing business heavily impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Progress made with energy-saving measures.
DB Netze Stations | 2020 | 2019 | Change | 2018 | ||
absolute | % | |||||
Passenger stations | 5,397 | 5,384 | +13 | +0.2 | 5,368 | |
Facilities quality (grade) | 2.83 1) | 2.87 1) | – | – | 2.88 | |
Customer satisfaction, traffic station (passengers/visitors) (SI) | 72 | 69 | – | – | 68 | |
Customer satisfaction, traffic station (TOCs and public transport authorities) (SI) | 68 | 61 | – | – | 61 | |
Customer satisfaction, tenants (SI) | 77 | 79 | – | – | 76 | |
Station stops (million) | 152.2 | 153.3 | –1.1 | –0.7 | 150.9 | |
thereof non-Group railways | 44.0 | 40.0 | + 4.0 | + 10.0 | 36.8 | |
Total revenues (€ million) | 1,258 | 1,339 | –81 | –6.0 | 1,314 | |
thereof station revenues (€ million) | 917 | 905 | + 12 | + 1.3 | 880 | |
thereof rental (€ million) | 332 | 393 | –61 | –15.5 | 391 | |
External revenues (€ million) | 525 | 590 | –65 | –11.0 | 569 | |
EBITDA adjusted (€ million) | 171 | 349 | –178 | –51.0 | 362 | |
EBIT adjusted (€ million) | 24 | 210 | –186 | –88.6 | 221 | |
Gross capital expenditures (€ million) | 1,338 | 1,096 | + 242 | + 22.1 | 883 | |
Net capital expenditures (€ million) | 253 | 262 | –9 | –3.4 | 164 | |
Employees as of Dec 31 (FTE) | 6,525 | 6,216 | + 309 | + 5.0 | 5,804 | |
Employee satisfaction (SI) | 4.0 | – | – | – | 3.7 | |
Share of women as of Dec 31 (%) | 44.2 | 44.7 | – | – | 45.2 | |
Absolute primary energy consumption (stations) to 2010 (%) | –25.7 | –22.1 | – | – | –20.5 | |
1) Preliminary figure.
Facilities quality was slightly below the previous year’s level.
Customer satisfaction among passengers improved significantly, particularly at the 16 future stations. In 2020, 32,700 interviews were conducted with passengers and visitors. Customer satisfaction among the TOCs and public transport authorities also improved significantly. Almost all areas surveyed contributed positively to this development. De-spite severe restrictions on tenants due to Covid-19, customer satisfaction among tenants was only slightly below the previous year’s level.
The slight decline in station stops resulted mainly from lower traffic on regional and long-distance services due to Covid-19. This was offset in part by an increased demand from non-Group customers.
Economic development was weak: significant increases in expenses mainly for maintenance and personnel, together with a simultaneous decline in income due to Covid-19, led to a significant decrease in operating profit figures.
- The decline in revenues is largely the result of lower revenues from rental due to Covid-19. Lower rental revenues due to renovation measures at stations placed an additional strain on development. The increase in station revenues partially compensated for this. The price effects were greater than the effects of the decrease in performance.
- Other operating income (–14.8 %/€ –33 million) declined, largely as a result of the absence of special items from the previous year.
On the expenses side, there were considerable additional burdens from the cost of materials and personnel expenses:
- Cost of materials (+8.5 %/€ +54 million) increased, in part because of additional hygiene and safety measures at our stations made necessary by Covid-19, and also because of the Federal Government’s trade program stimulus package, though this did not affect profits overall. Moreover, additional measures to improve quality have had a negative impact on development.
- Personnel expenses (+7.5 %/€ +28 million) increased significantly as a result of a higher number of employees and collective bargaining agreements.
- Other operating expenses (+2.2 %/€ +6 million) also increased slightly, among other things in connection with the passenger information system project, the utilization of increased purchasing services and projects for demolition work.
- Depreciation (+5.8 %/€ +8 million) increased slightly as a result of capital expenditures.
The significantly higher capital expenditures were mainly made for the modernization of existing traffic stations as well as the construction of new ones.
The number of employees increased mainly due to more personnel particularly in the areas of construction and facilities management.
Employee satisfaction increased, particularly because of greater optimism about the future and approval for the Strong Rail strategy, and remains good. The compass index was in the average range at 61 %.
The share of women has decreased, but remains at a relatively high level.
The positive trend of the past years is continuing, with the further reduction of the stations’ absolute primary energy consumption in comparison to 2010, for example through the use of energy-saving technologies.