FRENCH National Railways (SNCF) has reported group turnover of €41.8bn for 2023, up slightly from €41.4bn the year before, with group Ebitda down at €6.4bn from €6.6bn.
SNCF says that industrial action over pension reform at the start of the year had a significant impact on its financial performance in 2023, costing the French national operator €350m. Net profits slumped to €1.3bn, down 46% on the previous year.
Turnover at its passenger business SNCF Voyageurs was up 10.4% year-on-year at €19.2bn, while Ebitda was €2.5bn in 2023. SNCF reported strong growth in passenger traffic, up 7% for TER regional services, 6% on the Transilien Paris commuter network and 5% on conventional Intercités long-distance services.
High-speed traffic set a new record in 2023, with the number of passengers using domestic TGV services rising by 3% year-on-year to reach 124 million. Including Eurostar, Thalys (now merged under the Eurostar brand) and other cross-border services brings the total to 156 million, up 6% year-on-year.
Strong demand for public transport also drove a 6.6% increase in turnover at SNCF’s contract operating business Keolis. Turnover here was €6.98bn in 2023, when Keolis recorded Ebitda of €537m.
Freight business Rail Logistics Europe (RLE), including Fret SNCF, reported turnover of €1.7bn in 2023, down 0.5% year-on-year, and Ebitda of €128m.
SNCF says that activity at RLE was “almost stable” in 2023 despite the impact of industrial action, falling industrial production, initial moves to divest some of its activities, and the closure of the main border crossing to Italy due to a landslide in France.
Turnover at infrastructure manager SNCF Network was €7.55bn in 2023, up 6.2% on a like-for like basis due to the sharp drop in traffic caused by industrial action in the first quarter.
Excluding the increase in traction electricity charges, turnover was up 3% on the year before. Ebitda at SNCF Network was €1.97bn in 2023.
Station management business SNCF Gares & Connexions reported turnover of €1.86bn in 2023, up 9.6% on the year before. Income from services provided to passenger operators was up 9%, and that from station trading up 22% year-on-year. Ebitda was €370m.
Despite a difficult economic context and industrial relations climate, SNCF says that it was able to achieve a net positive result for the third year in succession in 2023.
In 2023 SNCF investment spending reached a record level of €10.6bn, over one third of which was met by the company itself. SNCF paid €1bn into the fund which the French government has solely allocated to renewing the national railway network.
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