BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb.12
By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
Despite the economic crisis in 2020, the volume of cargo shipments by the Georgian Railways (GR) has increased, Trend reports via Georgian Ministry of Economy.
According to the ministry, the cargo turnover amounted to 11.1 million tons, which was 0.2 million tons or 1.8 percent up, compared to 2019.
Despite the increase in freight shipments, the railway was still at a solid loss in the first 9 months of 2020. The company received 363.5 million lari ($110.1 million) in revenue from services, while its net loss was 118 million lari ($35.7 million).
Georgian Railway generated $118.9 million in revenue in 9M2020, down by 9.3 percent year-on-year. Notably, the pace of decline of the top line accelerated in 3Q2020. After declining by 15.2 percent year-on-year in 2Q20, the top line dropped by 16.8 percent year-on-year in 3Q2020.
Unlike 2Q2020 when freight transportation segment performed relatively well (slight decline), GR’s largest revenue category came under significant pressure during 3Q2020, down 16.8 percent year-on-year to $22.6 million.
Other associated revenue categories – logistic service and freight car rental – also recorded losses in 3Q2020. Logistic service revenue dropped by 37.4 percent year-on-year to $3.4 million (after increasing by 6.2 percent year-on-year in 2Q20) in 3Q2020, while freight car rental revenue dropped by 25.7 percent year-on-year to $1.4 million in the same period (-63.3 percent year-on-year in 2Q2020).
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