Jungfrau Lift Co’: Back On Track With Profit Of CHF 44.4 million
In an ad hoc announcement in accordance with Art. 53 of the Listing Rules, Jungfraubahn Holding AG announced that it had made a profit of CHF 44.4 million in the 2022 financial year. This is the third-best result in its history. The railways of the Jungfrau Railway Group achieved traffic revenue of CHF 139.2 million in 2022. The Board of Directors will propose a dividend of CHF 3.60 per share to the Annual General Meeting.
After the business of the Jungfrau Railway Group had suffered massively due to the negative effects of the corona pandemic, the situation gradually returned to normal after the last restrictions were lifted from the second half of 2022. Traffic revenue of CHF 139.2 million corresponds to an increase of 77% compared to the previous year. The Jungfraujoch – Top of Europe segments contributed CHF 81.8 million (+88%) to this result, the Adventure Mountains CHF 27.0 million (+80%) and winter sports CHF 30.4 million (+50%).
Operating expenses of 120.3 million francs increased by 18% compared to the previous year. Personnel costs increased by 14% over the previous year to CHF 63.9 million. Thanks to long-term energy supply contracts, the increase in energy purchases was kept low despite the energy crisis. Other operating expenses increased by 6.4 million francs to 46.8 million francs.
EBITDA more than tripled to CHF 93.8 million. The depreciation of CHF 42.3 million includes one-time special depreciation of CHF 3.2 million on decommissioned rolling stock. EBIT was CHF 51.5 million. After taxes of 8.4 million francs and extraordinary income of 1.6 million francs, which includes short-time work compensation from the years 2020 and 2021 for holidays and public holidays for employees on a monthly wage, the annual result was 44.4 million francs.
All interest-bearing bank loans amortized
The high cash flow enabled Jungfraubahn Holding AG to fully amortize all interest-bearing bank loans, with the exception of a bank loan from the Lauterbrunnen-Mürren mountain railway to finance rolling stock. In addition, cash and cash equivalents increased by CHF 23.5 million to CHF 41.3 million. With an equity ratio of 76% and equity of CHF 640 million, the balance sheet is rock solid, even after two years of the pandemic and two years after the start of the V-Bahn project, the largest investment project in the history of Jungfrau Railways.
The pleasing results show that the Jungfrau Railway Group quickly found its way back from the pandemic to regular operations. This is especially clear when comparing the 2022 results to 2019, the last year before the pandemic. In 2022, for example, traffic revenue was only 14% or CHF 22.6 million below the 2019 level. The cost-saving measures taken during the pandemic also had a positive effect in 2022. Operating expenses were the same as in 2019, although since then the business activities of the Jungfrau Railway Group have been significantly expanded with the opening of the Eiger Express, the terminal and car park in Grindelwald Grund, new Top of Europe shops and additional restaurants.
Jungfraujoch - Top of Europe
The business success of the most important segment Jungfraujoch - Top of Europe depends directly on the number of guests. After the two pandemic years, demand from intercontinental markets remained modest in the first quarter of 2022. It gradually recovered from the second quarter. In December 2022, for the first time, the same number of guests as before the crisis visited the Jungfraujoch - Top of Europe. A total of around 625,000 visitors were welcomed in the year under review. That is still a good 40% less than before the crisis.
The development in the second half of 2022 gives the company management confidence for the future. The excursion to the Jungfraujoch - Top of Europe has become even more attractive thanks to the new connection with the Eiger Express. The feedback from guests from all markets confirms this impressively. The Jungfraujoch – Top of Europe segment achieved sales of CHF 128.2 million and an EBITDA of CHF 47.3 million.
adventure mountains
The business of the Erlebnisberge was extremely successful in 2022: while the Lauterbrunnen-Mürren mountain railway reached the pre-crisis level again, both the Firstbahn and the Harderbahn achieved record values. The clear positioning that has been built up over the years is paying off. From May 2022, a striking number of individual travelers from abroad visited the adventure mountains. In addition to high frequencies on the railways, this also resulted in increased average revenues from tickets and higher sales in the rented catering establishments. Record sales were achieved for the Grindelwald First adventure offer. The Adventure Mountains segment generated sales of CHF 37.4 million and EBITDA of CHF 23.8 million.
winter sports
The snowy winter of 2021/2022 and the consistently good weather from February 2022 to the end of the season made for perfect winter sports conditions. Demand from winter sports guests was correspondingly high. After winter sports had suffered from the pandemic-related restrictions in gastronomy in the previous year, there was a noticeable need to catch up. Together with the novelty effect of the state-of-the-art facilities of the V-Bahn, it was possible to gain market share and equalize the record season of 2007/2008. At the beginning of the 2022/2023 winter season, the fourth-best start in the last ten years was achieved. Despite the energy crisis and little snow, the decline in skier visits compared to the previous year was kept within limits thanks to technical snowmaking and the V-Bahn.
investments
The Jungfrau Railway Group made investments of 28.9 million francs in the reporting year, compared to 65.3 million francs in 2021.
The largest current investment project is the renewal of the adhesion railway of the Lauterbrunnen-Mürren mountain railway, which is being financed by the canton of Bern as part of the traffic that is entitled to a subsidy. Investments of CHF 63 million are planned for the entire renewal of the Mürrenbahn. A total of CHF 11.5 million was invested in this in 2022, of which CHF 7.4 million was financed directly by increasing an interest-free investment loan from the Canton of Bern. Due to the delay in the delivery of the rolling stock, the completely renovated Lauterbrunnen-Mürren cable car will go into operation in June 2024, instead of the timetable change of December 9, 2023 as planned.
The Wengernalpbahn invested 6.0 million francs in new rolling stock for the "Wengen Shuttle", which will go into operation in December 2023. This investment was also financed directly by the customer.
outlook
The year 2023 got off to a good start at the Jungfraujoch. From January 1st to March 31st, 2023, 106,852 guests visited the Top of Europe, which means an increase of 115 percent compared to the same period in the previous year (49,810 guests). The figures for the Firstbahn and the Lauterbrunnen-Mürren mountain railway are encouraging. The Harderbahn starts the new season on April 7, 2023.
The fourth best start to the season in the last ten years was recorded for the 2022/2023 winter sports season. Up to March 31, 2023, 1,016,651 skier visits were registered, which is 13 percent less than in the same period of time in the 2021/2022 season, with which the record season 2007/2008 was equalized. However, sales of sports passes increased significantly with the simplification of the range in the current winter season.
The pandemic heralded and strengthened the trend towards individual travel. This development will be sustainable and the Jungfrau Railway Group will gear its offer even more to the growing needs in terms of comfort, quality and shorter travel times. The investments made by the Jungfrau Railway Group in digital customer management, new sales systems and the connection of new sales channels are already paying off. This doesn't mean the end of group travel, but groups are tending to get smaller.
The products of the Jungfrau Railway Group are based on an intact natural and social environment. The promotion of rail instead of road is an essential part of the sustainability strategy. The aim is an integrated sustainability management with a view to the seven central Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the company. From 2024, reporting will be based on the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards. The CO2 footprint, which was created for the first time for the 2022 financial year, will be expanded further in 2023. In addition, the ISO certification 14001 in environmental management by means of a maintenance audit is due in the current year.
Annual report and motions to the AGM
The General Assembly of Jungfraubahn Holding AG will be held in Interlaken on May 15, 2023. Due to the positive development, the Board of Directors is proposing the payment of a dividend of CHF 3.60 per share. The payout ratio is thus in the middle of the target range of 35%-60%.
The Jungfraubahn Holding AG annual report for the 2022 reporting year was created as an online version. The online annual report is published under the following link:
Annual Report 2022: www.jungfrau.ch/annual-report
