Škoda Transportation engineering group had an EBITDA profit of 380 million crowns last year, which is 18.6 percent higher year-on-year due to higher order backlogs. Revenues increased by 11.3 percent to CZK 11.03 billion. After taking into account extraordinary adjustments of non-monetary items for historical development costs and orders, the group’s operating result was minus CZK 0.79 billion and the economic result minus CZK 1.42 billion.
“Last year’s (unadjusted) EBITDA was significantly affected by extraordinary one-off non-cash effects of CZK 1.17 billion, which consisted mainly of provisions for intangible fixed assets, receivables and inventories of material. Extraordinary provisions relate to historical development costs and contracts. Including of these one-off non-monetary effects, the operating result before depreciation (EBITDA) is minus CZK 0.79 billion and the economic result minus CZK 1.42 billion, “said the group’s spokesman Jan Švehla. Last year, according to him, the Pilsen engineering group repaid bonds in the amount of 2.3 billion crowns.
Thanks to new orders, the largest Central European manufacturer of rail vehicles has a labor supply for about three years with a total value of almost 69 billion crowns. “These are agreed contracts for rail or wheeled vehicles, but also for separate electrical equipment or modernization and repair of vehicles,” said the spokesman. New investments in product research and development amounted to CZK 1.73 billion last year, in the expansion and higher efficiency of production companies in Pilsen, Ostrava and Šumperk and in Otanmäki, Finland, another CZK 850 million went. The group with more than 5,500 employees created over 600 new jobs last year.
“Last year was extremely challenging. Unfortunately, the current covid-19 pandemic and related measures had a negative impact on the implementation of our contracts and investments. For example, the course of technical and material preparation of projects was affected, “Restrictions on travel and restrictions in other countries played a significant role in foreign procurement,” said Petr Brzezina, President and Chairman of the Group’s Board of Directors. According to him, the situation with many restrictions also affected the plans to recruit new employees. The company’s ambitions were higher last year with regard to the capacity plan and the concurrence of many projects, nevertheless Brzezina considers the achieved result to be very good with regard to the circumstances.
According to Švehla, the results of this year’s first quarter further confirm the positive trend. “The group concluded new orders worth 6.8 billion crowns, operating profit EBITDA before depreciation reached 260 million crowns and the company reported a positive economic result,” he said.
According to the spokesman, investment in research and development increased by almost 50 percent year-on-year, and in production more than doubled. “It was, for example, a testing room, paint shop, chassis, machining centers, assembly lines, etc. Other large investments are ongoing in all companies this year as well. More than 600 new positions with high added value have been created, from developers, programmers, designers to workers’ professions, “said the spokesman.
Škoda Transportation is the largest group in transport engineering in Central and Eastern Europe. In April 2018, it was controlled by the PPF group. Škoda manufactures trains, locomotives, trams, trolleybuses and metro cars. It includes Škoda Electric, Škoda Vagonka and Pars Nova. In Hungary, it is Ganz-Škoda, in Finland it is the manufacturer of rolling stock TransTech, in Novosibirsk it is the manufacturer of engines Sibelektroprivod, and it also has a joint venture in St. Petersburg for the production of metro, tram and trolleybus trains Sinara-Škoda. PPF, as the 90% owner of Škoda Transportation, acquired a half stake in Temsa, Turkey’s main producer of buses and light trucks, last November.
