Development in the year under review

• Punctuality weaker due to construction and higher network utilization.
• Increased revenues from price and volume effects fuel positive operating profit development.
• Personnel expenses increased as a result of collective bargaining agreements, as a result of special Covid-19 payments and additional recruitment.
• Higher expenses, in particular for improvements in capacity and quality.

Overall, punctuality of DB Group and rail in Germany declined in 2022. The main reason for this was the insufficient quality, particularly in the highly utilized bottleneck network. The reasons for this were, among other reasons, increased construction activity and at the same time tense infrastructure capacity due to growing traffic, highly utilized rail tracks, even without construction activity, and the increase in primary disruptions, mainly in the area of infrastructure, as a result of outdated and fault-prone facilities. In addition, weather-­­­related events and external effects had a negative impact on punctuality.

Customer satisfaction fell significantly in 2022. Feedback from about 270 customers continued to produce critical results in the areas of construction work and infrastructure availability, with the satisfaction of train-path availability once again having deteriorated sharply.

Train kilometers on track infrastructure increased further. The main drivers were fewer Covid-19-related train cancellations, fewer weather-related restrictions and an increase in freight transport. Demand increased even more significantly among intra-Group customers than among non-Group customers which was partly due to the takeover of regional transport services and the absence of special items (in particular strikes).

Operating profit figures rose significantly. This resulted in particular from price and performance-related increased income that more than compensated for the increased expenses, for example for materials and personnel.

The income trend was very positive:

• Revenue: Significant increase due to price and demand development.
• Other operating income: Significant increase (+32.1%/ € +334 million), among other things as a result of higher income from real estate sales and increased grants, especially for the repair of flood damage. This was supported by higher income from the release of provisions.

In terms of expenses, there were significant additional burdens, in particular due to measures to expand capacity, improve quality and in connection with the floods from the previous year:

• Cost of materials: Development (+7.6%/€ +191 million) is mainly due to higher maintenance services (in particular in connection with quality and capacity measures, the replacement of concrete ties and the repair of flood damage from the previous year). Lower expenses for winter service helped to mitigate this.
• Personnel expenses: Significant increase (+5.8%/€ +202 million), as a result of collective bargaining agreements and the higher number of employees.
• Other operating expenses: Increase (+7.6%/€ +105 million) was due, among other things, to higher expenses for projects and for IT services. On the other hand, lower impairments on receivables had the effect of reducing expenses.

The slight decline in depreciation (–4.9%/€ –33 million) had a dampening effect.

Gross capital expenditures fell slightly but remained at a high level due to lower capital expenditures in the existing network, with net capital expenditures remaining at the previous year’s level.

The number of employees increased significantly to cover demand and ensure succession planning, particularly in the areas of maintenance, construction projects and operations.

Employee satisfaction remained stable at the level of 2020. This stability in challenging times is partly due to the improvements in the critical areas of action identified in the previous employee survey.

The share of women was somewhat higher.

The total number of track kilometers noise-remediated increased due to the continued implementation of measures.