Hupac Defies Corona Crisis Thanks to Digitalization and Good Results in 2019

The Hupac Group was able to shift more than 1 million road consignments from road to rail in 2019 and achieve a satisfactory financial result. During the Corona crisis, Hupac maintains its network thanks to digitalization and contactless processes.

(Chiasso) The Hupac Group has shifted more than 1 million truck consignments from road to rail for the first time in the past financial year. Overall, the number of transports increased by 10.5% to 1,024,089 road consignments. The growth was partly due to the acquisition of the company ERS Railways in June 2018, which was fully consolidated in the Hupac Group for the first time last year.
In the core business of transalpine traffic through Switzerland, Hupac has gained market shares again thanks to the introduction of new products. Overall, the past year was characterized by a negative volume development in land transport through the Alps (-4.6%) as a result of the weakening economy in Europe. Nevertheless, Hupac was able to further strengthen its strong position in combined transport with a transport volume of 551,042 road consignments (+2.8%), thus contributing to a reduction in the number of road transports through Switzerland.

Financially Healthy into the Crisis Year 2020

The Hupac Group looks back on a satisfactory financial year 2019. While group revenue increased by 5.4% to CHF 611 million, the operating result could not quite keep pace with the revenue development due to the deteriorating economy, the strong Swiss franc, and the reduction in subsidies. Although EBITDA rose by 4.6% to CHF 55.4 million, the annual result fell by 35% to CHF 5.1 million compared to the previous year. Negative currency effects and an extraordinary effect from the previous year contributed to this.

Uncertain journey for Hupac in 2020 due to the Corona crisis!

The Corona crisis has posed extraordinary challenges for the company since February 2020. “The company is financially healthy and has secured additional financial liquidity in view of a longer crisis scenario,” said Hans-Jörg Bertschi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hupac. “We expect a gradual recovery of transport volumes across Europe in the second half of 2020.”

In addition, Hupac has advocated for rail freight transport and terminals to be recognized as systemically relevant and not to be closed during lockdowns to ensure a secure supply of essential goods. This has helped ensure that Hupac’s services remained available, even during the phase of national border closures.

Continuing the Shift Success, Bridging the Corona Crisis

The significant decline in traffic related to the Corona crisis is putting enormous strain on the combined transport system. After a promising first quarter with a traffic growth of 3.6%, Hupac recorded a sharp decline in transport volumes in April, particularly pronounced in the transalpine traffic to Italy. The main reason for this slump – which reached a peak of minus 50% – was the extensive official closure of industrial production. With the gradual easing of restrictions, traffic volumes in Hupac’s network are currently increasing again and are now at a level of minus 25% compared to the planned traffic volumes.

The Europe-wide traffic collapse, coupled with the strengthening of road competition due to the falling diesel prices during the Corona crisis, requires effective measures to support combined transport to prevent a shift back from rail to road. Switzerland plans to support transalpine combined transport more strongly with the already available subsidies. Italy is granting discounts on track costs for the benefit of railway companies. “We also expect further measures to reduce the fixed cost burden on combined operators from Germany as the most important market and central European transit country,” said Michail Stahlhut, Director of Hupac Intermodal. “A temporary additional track price subsidy as well as grants for rolling stock that cannot be used during the crisis would provide relief and counteract a drastic reduction in services in rail freight transport. Without appropriate support, the operators of combined transport are forced to reduce their services, which would trigger a dangerous downward spiral in traffic shifting.”

New Connections in 2020
In the current year, Hupac has been able to further develop its product portfolio despite the Corona crisis. In January, daily connections between Rotterdam Melzo and Novara Pescara for P400 trailers were integrated into the network. In April, a shuttle train between Perpignan and Cologne for P400 trailers was launched, a groundbreaking innovation for the Spain/South France market. Also in April, a daily feeder service between Geleen Moerdijk with further connections to the UK and Italy commenced operations, while an improved deployment concept for domestic traffic in Switzerland was implemented between Stabio and Aarau.

In the area of maritime hinterland transport, ERS Railways was able to add the connections Bremerhaven Regensburg and Bremerhaven Frankfurt to its offerings in April. The new business unit Landbridge China launched a shuttle service in early May between Xian in Western China and Warsaw in Poland, connecting to Hupac’s European shuttle network.

Access the complete business report of Hupac online:
https://www.hupac.com/Geschaftsbericht

Photos: Hupac

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