Cargo, Estonia, Good for Business, Railways, Transport

The operating profit of Operail for the first six months of 2019 was 18% higher compared to the previous year, amounting to nearly six mln euros. "We have managed to continue the trend from 2018 and kept the company highly profitable," Raul Toomsalu, chairman of the management board of Operail, said.

"After many years, Operail also paid dividends to the owner, that is the state – we contributed 1.5 mln euros to the state treasury, on which we paid 375,000 euros in income tax," Toomsalu added.

Compared to the first six months of last year, Operail increased its operating revenue by 2% to 37.7 mln euros, with the biggest increase in sales revenue coming from income relating to rolling stock.

By the end of the first half of the year, the company had leased more than 2,100 wagons, with lease revenue growing by 58% and exceeding more than six mln euros. The company's EBITDA was 8.9 mln euros, which is 14% more than in the previous year.

The freight volumes demonstrated a minimum decline, by 1%, in the first six months of the year. However, according to Toomsalu, there is nothing tragic to be seen in this. "Over the period of six months, we transported nearly seven mln tons of goods, that is more than one mln tons per month, which is a very good sign. Compared to last year, we have seen a growing trend, for example, in the transport of fertilizers, chemical products and liquid mineral fuels, and a slight downward trend in oil shale and solid mineral fuels," he added.

Operail is an Estonian state-owned railway company whose main business areas are freight transport, locomotive and wagon repair and construction, and rolling stock rental. The company employs some 700 people.