2023 marked a record year for Rete Ferroviaria Italiana, which realised infrastructure investments totalling €7,550 million, an increase of around 27% (or €1,620 million) over the previous year.
Specifically, approximately €3,208 million were invested in activities to maintain the efficiency of the infrastructure and in interventions across Italy (of which €529 million involved technological upgrades), while about €4,342 million were invested in the construction of major infrastructure projects developed by RFI to contribute to its fundamental role in the sustainable growth of the country and its mobility system. These important infrastructure works are aimed first and foremost at increasing the interconnection of the railway mobility system, making it more intermodal, digital, hi-tech and better integrated with transport hubs and the major European transnational corridors, in implementation of the NRRP. In this regard, in 2023 RFI effectively used the public funds allocated to it under the NRRP by achieving all the objectives set for infrastructure investments aimed at developing and upgrading the railway network under Mission 3 “Infrastructure for sustainable mobility”.
This was achieved despite a macroeconomic context that during the year confirmed the highly unstable dynamics that began in 2022 as a result of geopolitical events which are still ongoing, which did not prevent RFI from achieving a commendable Net Profit of €196 million, albeit with a moderate decrease compared to 2022 (-€67 million).
At the same time, EBITDA, amounting to €422 million, fell slightly (-€99 million, or about -19%) compared to the previous year due to the combined effect of, on the one hand, higher traffic volumes following the full recovery of economic activities and the higher capitalised internal costs associated with the intense investment activities carried out during the year and, on the other hand, increased labour costs, in particular due to 4,600 new hires, lower contributions from the State under the Services part of the Programme Contract and, lastly, the absence of extraordinary items.
RFI has maintained a high level of financial stability thanks to equity that remains in line with the previous year and stands at approximately €34 billion.
| MAIN OPERATING, CASH FLOW AND CAPITAL FIGURES | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| mln€ | mln€ | mln€ | ||
| 2023 | 2022 | Change | % | |
| Operating income | 2,866 | 3,233 | (365) | (11%) |
| Operating Costs | (2,466) | (2,712) | 266 | (10%) |
| Gross operating margin (EBITDA) | 422 | 521 | (99) | (19%) |
| Operating result (EBIT) | 250 | 312 | (62) | (20%) |
| Net result | 196 | 263 | (67) | (25%) |
| 31.12.2023 | 31.12.2022 | Change | % | |
| Net Invested Capital | 38,638 | 34,844 | 3,794 | 11% |
| Equity | 34,120 | 34,094 | 26 | 0% |
| Net financial position | 4,518 | 750 | 3,768 | n.s. |
| Investments during the year | 7,550 | 5,930 | 1,620 | 27% |
| Total cash flow generated/absorbed during the year | (1,443) | 1.022 | (2,465) | n.s. |
| MAIN FINANCIAL RATIOS | ||||
| 2023 | 2022 | |||
| EBITDA MARGIN (EBITDA/OPERATING INCOME) | 14.70% | 16.10% | ||
| ROS (EBIT MARGIN) | 8.72% | 9.64% | ||
| STAFF COSTS/OPERATING INCOME | 58.40% | 46.03% | ||
31,528,425,067.00 (latest change: 18.12.2018).