BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 25
By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
A total of 31 million tons of cargo was transported throughout Georgia during 9M2020, which is 1.3 percent higher year-on-year, Trend reports via Georgian Galt&Taggart analytics company.
The growth was equally driven by increased transportation by rail and road, while air transportation was insignificant. Notably, road transportation volumes have shown resilience throughout 9M2020, while rail transportation came under pressure in 3Q2020.
Georgian Railway (GR) 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).
Despite some revival in mobility throughout Georgia during summer months, passenger transportation by rail dropped in 3Q20. Passenger transportation resumed operations from June 15 (after government lockdown restrictions ended), nevertheless passenger revenue dropped by 65.6 percent year-on-year to $5.1 million in 3Q2020.
Overall, revenue from passenger transportation dropped by 63.1 percent year-on-year in 9M2020. Lower revenue resulted in lower profitability for the company.
Ties with the state and financial implications of default were assessed strong, resulting in one-notch differential between the ratings of Government and Georgian Railways.
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