Operail expects strong profit for the year
The operating profits of international transport and logistics company Operail for the first nine months of this year totalled 7.5 million euros. Projections also allow for profits in the coming years.
Where in the same period last year the company saw a loss of almost two million euros, this year Operail’s profits have grown significantly. “A broader view of the rail industry and the expansion of our service portfolio will allow us over a longer period to finish the financial year with a profit. Our projections show that we will end 2018 with nearly 10 million euros in profit,” said Chairman of the Operail Board Raul Toomsalu, commenting on the 9-month interim report.
Operail’s freight volume for the first nine months of this year grew by 41 per cent compared to the same period last year, reaching 10 million tonnes. The company’s freight sales turnover grew 55.8 per cent to 44 million euros and wagon rental revenue by 160 per cent to 6.3 million euros. The group’s EBITDA was 12 million euros, compared to three million euros from the previous period.
In order to serve customers in the company’s three business areas (freight transport, wagon rental and rolling stock maintenance and construction), one of Operail’s biggest challenges in the near future will be finding sufficient labour. “We continue to grow in new directions, and therefore our demand for quality employees is also increasing. This year, our workforce has grown 7 per cent and new projects, such as locomotive construction, still need a great deal of assistance,” explained Toomsalu.
“Certainly, Operail’s most important key words during the third quarter are railway safety and our people’s sense of responsibility and initiative,” said Toomsalu. “It is good to see that, in addition to meeting our business objectives, our employees have taken it on themselves to teach children and youths about the dangers of the railway. A good example is the first events for the safety programme we plan to ran for all nearly 400 children of our employees.”
“Safety is a very important topic. I remind everyone that the days are getting shorter and nights longer, and this is why it is so important to make yourself visible by wearing reflectors at night. You cannot cross the railway except at a designated crossing point, and before crossing, you must first listen and look in both directions to make sure that it is safe to cross,” noted Toomsalu.
Operail is an Estonian state-owned railway company whose primary business areas are freight transport, locomotive and wagon maintenance and construction, and rolling stock rental. The company employs 680 people.