German railway says profits up in first half

FRANKFURT – German national rail operator Deutsche Bahn said its profits rose in the first six months of this year, powered by record passenger numbers.

“From a business point of view, the first six months of this year wer

e very positive,” chief executive Ruediger Grube said.

“Both revenues and operating profit are pointing upwards.”

Deutsche Bahn said revenues grew by 1.9 percent to 19.73 billion euros ($26.6 billion) in the period from January to June as passenger numbers rose by 1.0 percent to 1.06 billion.

Underlying or operating profit rose by 6.9 percent to 1.09 billion euros in the six-month period and net profit was up 15.9 percent at 642 million euros, the company said in a statement.

Finance chief Richard Lutz said: “Overall, we did better than expected in the first half. But there’s no reason to be euphoric. There are a lot of challenges ahead.”

These included “increasingly intense competition, infrastructure financing and pending wage talks,” Lutz said.