The income, financial and net assets situation of DB Group were still significantly influenced by the Covid-19 pandemic in the first quarter of 2022. The complete removal of Covid-19 restrictions in passenger transport led to continued recovery in demand as well as a further improvement in performance figures.

Agreement on the sale of DB Arriva

After activities of DB Arriva in Denmark, Poland, Portugal, Sweden and Serbia were sold in 2022 and 2023, DB AG signed an agreement with I Squared Capital on October 19, 2023, to sell all the remaining DB Arriva companies operating at country level. The transaction is expected to be completed in 2024. The sale is still subject to the customary implementation conditions.

Due to the expected disposal, DB Arriva has no longer been shown as a business unit/segment in DB Group reporting since 2023, but reported as a discontinued operation. The previous year’s figures (with the exception of the consolidated balance sheet) were adjusted accordingly. The continuing operations of DB Group include the remaining seven business units and the Other area.

Further information on changes in the scope of consolidation are presented in the consolidated financial statements.

Group charges introduced in DB Group

DB Group management includes various governance functions that carry out their tasks for the entire DB Group with some regulatory exceptions (including Group development, finance and treasury, and human resources). Since 2023, the costs for these functions have no longer been charged to the business units as an aspiration to profits, but as explicit costs. Within the scope of Group charges, only services that are provided for several companies within the integrated Group structure are charged using a user-oriented allocation key. As a result, the profit of the Other area improved by € 335 million in 2023. This was offset by a corresponding deterioration in profit for the individual business units (DB Netze Track: € –157 million, DB Regional: € –50 million, DB Long-Distance: € –44 million, DB Cargo: € –30 million, DB Netze Stations: € –23 million, DB Schenker: € –15 million). Overall, this results in negligible limitations in terms of comparability with previous years’ figures at business unit level.

A contractual agreement and the clearing of Group charges ensures the settlement of chargeable services of DB Group functions, including against the background of regulatory and tax requirements.

The Group charge agreement was concluded with the management companies of the business units and the main internal service providers of DB Group. The agreement regulates the allocation of costs and the assessment of them for the services included.