During the first nine months of this year, the profits of the state-owned Georgian Railway amounted to 5.1 times less than the same period of the previous year , coming to 18.2 million GEL (in comparison to last year’s 93.7 million GEL). Based on the non-audited Railway data, the revenues of the company increased, reaching 314.2 million GEL, up from last year’s numbers of 303.2 million GEL.
The largest portion of the revenues was received from freight transportation; The company made 214.4 million GEL from January to September through these services. However, compared to the previous year, the amount received from freight transportation dropped by 19.2 million GEL. Revenues received from logistics services increased by 52.9 GE and the revenue from passenger travel services reached 22 million GEL. The company earned 18.5 million GEL renting the coaches during the first three quarters of the year.
Last year, the Georgian Railway finished the year with a loss of 354 million GEL as a result of the Tbilisi Railway Bypass project. The cost of the project reached 390 million GEL which was reflected in the last year’s financial figures.
During this month, the Fitch rating agency changed the rating of the Georgian Railways from stable to positive and gave it a grade of B+.
Georgian Railway is 100% state-owned. In the mid-term perspective, Fitch does not anticipate the change of ownership of the Georgian Railway. However, Fitch writes that the government has decided to give up 25% of the company.
In addition, the rating agency points out that Georgia is obliged to include the transport sector in the scope of EU directives, which also affects the Georgian railway. In particular, by 2022 the infrastructure has to be separated which will have an impact on GR business and its monopoly position.
Last week, the Georgian Railway Eurobond (GRAIL) was trading for 105.9 (-0.1% compared to the previous week), with 5.9% revenues.
• 2012 – 469.8 million GEL; Revenue received from freight transportation – 350 million GEL
• 2013 – 481.7 million GEL; Revenue received from freight transportation – 364 million GEL
• 2014 – 511.5 million GEL; Revenue received from freight transportation – 382.7 million GEL
• 2015 – 574.7 million GEL; Revenue received by freight transportation – 440 million GEL
• 2016 – 439.9 million GEL; Revenue received from freight transportation – 292.6 million GEL
• 2017 – 434.5 million GEL; Revenue received by freight transportation – 312.9 million GEL.
