TBILISI, Georgia, July 3. The Georgian Railway JSC state-owned company ended 2022 with a record profit of 396.7 million lari ($152 million), and a net financial income of 178.9 million lari ($68.5 million), Trend reports.
After asset depreciation and devaluation of lari in 2016, Georgian Railway faced losses. However, in 2021, the company's management could reverse the negative trend and end the year with a profit, despite the pandemic and other difficulties.
The increase in net financial income is mainly due to a reduction in interest expenses after the refinancing of Eurobonds in 2021, as well as the strengthening of lari against the US dollar.
The operating income of the company increased by 23 percent and reached 674.8 million lari ($258.58 million). The positive results were due to record-high growth in traffic volumes and a significant increase in passenger traffic, the company representatives explained.
In 2022, revenue from cargo transportation amounted to 388.4 million lari ($148.8 million), while income from logistics services increased by 77 percent and reached 123.1 million lari ($47.17 million).
Revenue from passenger transportation last year almost doubled and amounted to 27.4 million lari ($10.5 million) compared to 2021.
Georgian Railway continues to improve its liquidity ratios. By the end of 2022, free cash on the company's accounts amounted to 274.6 million lari ($105.2 million), which is 62.4 million lari ($23.9 million) more than the end of 2021.
In addition, the company has published the results for the first quarter of 2023. Net profit for this period amounted to 82.3 million lari ($31.5 million), which is 3.5 times higher than in the same period in 2022.
