“The French are in favor of the train and that’s good news”, greeted the president of the SNCF, Jean-Pierre Farandou, quoted in the press release of the company. The French railway group recorded in the first half of 2023 a turnover up 2.2% in the first half, to 20.7 billion euros. And this, despite strikes against the pension reform, the impact of which is estimated at 500 million euros in the company’s accounts.
After a historic year 2022, where it achieved record turnover, SNCF continued its momentum in the first half of 2023, thanks in particular to the unprecedented enthusiasm of the French for the train. The SNCF Voyageurs company – responsible for running the trains – saw its turnover increase by 11.3% to 9.3 billion euros. The success of long-distance travel has benefited the TGV, the traditional locomotive of society, despite “significant inflation, in particular on electric power”.
The turnover of the TGV activity jumped 21% in the first half year on year, while at the beginning of 2022, the Covid was still raging. At the same time, use of the TGV and Intercités increased by 10%.
The SNCF, which is delighted with rail traffic at “historic levels”, indicates that the increase in its turnover is the result of a better occupancy rate of its trains, 80% full for the TGV, i.e. 4 to 5 points more than before, not from the increase in its prices. These, she says, appreciated by 5% when her expenses increased by 13%.
Keolis, the group’s public transport subsidiary, which recently won the contracts for the Grand Paris Express metro lines 16 and 17, is also coming off a successful semester. Its turnover reached 3.5 billion euros (7.3%).
Without the social movement against the pension reform, the net result of the SNCF group would have been more flattering. It amounted to 158 million euros, down sharply compared to the first half of last year (928 million euros). According to the SNCF, the 14 days of interprofessional strike, as well as the renewable strike launched on March 7 by all the unions of the group, have amputated this half-yearly net result of approximately 400 million euros. In total, the strikes cost the company $500 million, management says.
Last year, SNCF’s historic results were boosted by the remarkable performance of logistics provider Geodis. But this year, “SNCF Voyageurs has replaced Geodis as the group’s revenue locomotive”, underlined the financial director, Laurent Trevisani. The logistics company has indeed stalled, like the entire sector, due to the “global economic slowdown and the normalization of freight rates on air (-19%) and sea (-14% )”.
Geodis saw its turnover fall by 12% and even 20% at constant scope and exchange rates, but managed to maintain its margins. He even completed the acquisition of Trans-O-Flex, a German carrier, for 1 billion euros.
The fragility of the freight transport sector has also hit Rail Logistics Europe, which owns Fret SNCF. Its turnover fell by 3.6%. A decline “mainly linked to the strikes” which cost him a hundred million euros, according to Mr. Trevisani. “Unfortunately, in freight transport, businesses are not coming back as quickly as travelers, so 2023 is going to be a tough year,” he said.
Despite this patch of gray sky – darkened by the announced restructuring of Fret SNCF, whose public aid has been deemed illegal by the European Commission – the good results of the SNCF group have enabled it to reduce its debt (now at 23.9 billion) and to maintain its investment objectives at 10 billion euros.
The year 2023 may not reach the records of 2022. But “we are preparing for the future to increase the share of rail in daily mobility”, insisted Mr. Farandou, who is counting more than ever on the plan to 100 billion announced by the government in February.