The Group’s half-year results show a clear increase in the first half of the year, with a €141m (+5.1%) growth in turnover and a €193m increase in the Group’s share of net profits, standing at €105m, despite the lingering negative impact of the health crisis. In the Île-de-France region, RATP is fully mobilised to support the rebound in passenger traffic (+19% at the end of June), which accelerated with the end of the lockdown, and to deliver the ambitious goals of the contract signed on 16 June with Île-de-France Mobilités. Investments dedicated to upgrading, network development and passenger service quality improvement carried out by RATP in the Île-de-France region reached €1,041m in the first half of the year, up 17% compared to 2020.
RATP Group has actively pursued its strategic and future-oriented projects, with a sustained effort to continue developing and diversifying its activities: strong commercial dynamic of RATP Dev and Systra in France and abroad, developing MaaS with RATP Smart Systems and Mappy and the ramp-up of our urban services activity to build the city of tomorrow with RATP Solutions Ville. The main challenge for our public transport activities remains the start of the calls for tenders for the opening up to competition of our long-standing bus network. We are preparing for it with determination, and, at the same time, we continue developing in France and abroad with our subsidiary RATP Dev.
A sustained recovery of passenger traffic in the Île-de-France region (+19%), with 1,034 million journeys at the end of June 2021, despite the lockdown and the curfew measures implemented during the first half of the year. However, traffic remained 42% below prepandemic levels (compared to 2019 traffic levels).
A 5.1% increase in consolidated turnover, which rose to €2,887m, notably driven by the improving health situation compared to the first half of 2020, and by the balancing of the revenue losses caused by the strikes regarding the pensions reform in January 2020. The EPIC’s turnover grew by 4.4% while the subsidiaries’ turnover grew by 8.0%.
A clear profits improvement compared to 2020, despite the still harmful impact (-€94m) of the health crisis in 2021:
- Operating profits (EBIT) of €171m, up €114m compared to June 2020;
- A Group share of net profits of €105m, up €193m compared to June 2020.
A total mobilisation of RATP Group to implement the €8.4bn investment programme contracted with Île-de-France Mobilités over the 2021-2024 period, which reflects a strong ambition to upgrade networks, improve service quality and develop the transport offer. Despite the health situation, RATP EPIC investments in the Île-de-France region grew by 17% in the first half of the year for a total of €1,041m.
A gradual improvement in passenger traffic despite a still difficult health situation
The first half of the year shows a clear rebound in passenger traffic over the entire network, with a 19% growth compared to 2020, amounting to an extra 167m passengers. The health crisis and its consequences on mobility habits for Île-de-France residents are still heavily impacting passenger traffic. In the first half of the year, it remained 42% inferior to 2019 levels (amounting to a 744m passenger loss). However, the recovery accelerated in June due to the end of the lockdown: over the month of June 2021, traffic was 26% inferior to June 2019 levels (-31% on rail and -19% on surface network).
A sharp rebound for the Group’s results, despite the still highly negative impact of Covid-19
On 30 June 2021, the Group’s consolidated turnover reached €2,887m, up €141m or 5.1% compared to 30 June 2020. The rebound in turnover is driven by the growth of the EPIC (+4.4%) and its subsidiaries (+8.0%).
The growth notably results from:
- The relative improvement of the health situation, whose negative impact was lessened compared to the first half of 2020, resulting in a €93m growth in Group turnover, including €77m for the EPIC and €36m for subsidiaries. The absolute impact of Covid-19 on Group activity, estimated at -€130m (-€77m for the EPIC and -€54m for subsidiaries), was still heavily felt in the first semester.
- The balancing of the losses caused by the strikes regarding the pension reform in January 2020 (+€71m).
RATP Dev’s good sales dynamic (+€36m, or 6.2% excluding Covid-19 for constant perimeters and exchange rates), notably in the Middle East, in the United States and in South Africa, as well as that of other subsidiaries, was notably offset by the negative impact of exchange rates (-€13m), the end of the Algiers metro contract (-€15m) and a decrease in EPIC turnover (-€33m excluding Covid-19 and strikes), which notably resulted from a decrease in contributions from Île-de-France Mobilités as part of the new contract.
Operating profits (EBIT) amount to €171m, up €114m compared to June 2020, driven by the dynamic turnover and the good handling of operating costs.
Despite the still harmful impact of Covid-19 in 2021, which is estimated at -€94m (-€78m for the EPIC and -€16m for subsidiaries) compared to -€117m in 2020, the Group once again enjoys positive net profits comparable to prepandemic levels.
The Group's share of net profits reached €105m, a €193m increase compared to June 2020. The EPIC’s net profits, which benefit from the productivity effort, from the balancing of the January 2020 strikes and from the improvement in differed taxes, grew by €154m. Net profits for subsidiaries grew by €39m, notably due to the balancing of the sightseeing goodwill depreciation which occurred in June 2020.
Cash flow grew by €95m, reaching €504m. It enables all Group investments (grants excluded) to be self-financed (€454m, or €899 in consolidated gross investments, of which €840m invested by the EPIC as part of the 4-year investment programme in the Île-de-France region and -€445m in grants).
Net debt reached €5,690m at the end of June 2021. The €146m increase compared to the end of December 2020 is mostly due to seasonality effects linked to investment working capital requirements, which should be corrected over the second half of the year. The net debt/equity ratio (gearing) improved slightly, with 1.18x at the end of June, compared to 1.20x at the end of December 2020.
A strong mobilisation from RATP to implement the ambitious investment plan contracted with Île-de-France Mobilités.
RATP teams were highly mobilised during the first half of the year to meet the challenge of the €8.4bn investment programme contracted with Île-de-France Mobilités over the 2021-2024 period and accelerate investment efforts.
As part of the programme, RATP’s investments in the Île-de-France region reached €1,041m in the first half of the year, a 17% increase compared to the first half of 2020 :
- €499m to upgrade the network and maintain infrastructure: pursuing the energy transition of the bus network by converting bus depots to electricity and biogas and mass purchasing clean buses, ordering new MI20 rolling stock for RER line B, adapting rail workshops and infrastructure to new rolling stock (MF19, MF20), automating metro line 4, upgrading metro line 6;
- €485m for metro and tram line extensions: extension of metro line 14 to the north and extension of metro lines 11, 12 and 4 (€278m), extension of metro line 14 to Orly (€195m invested on behalf of the Société du Grand Paris), extension of tram line T1 to Asnières and extension of tram line T3b to Porte Dauphine;
- €57m to improve passenger comfort through station upgrades and improved passenger information: metro and RER station renovation and cleaning for 5 metro stations and Auber, Croix de Berny, Nanterre Préfecture and Charles de Gaulle Étoile stations, new information screens on RER line A, improved safety and accessibility and new ticketing systems.
Gross subsidiary investments also increased in 2021, reaching €44m, notably through the ramp-up of RATP Smart Systems’ MaaS programme, the pursuit of the renovation and optimisation programme for tertiary sites led by Urban Station, an RATP Real Estate subsidiary, and the new phase of the 3G/4G project led by RATP Connect.
RATP Group subsidiaries demonstrate their resilience and are fully focused on development and preparing for the future.
Subsidiaries’ contribution to Group turnover grew by €47m (8.8%) to €637m as of 30 June 2021, representing 22.1% of the consolidated Group turnover, compared to 21.5% in June 2020.
The persistent health crisis in France and abroad impacted subsidiaries’ activity (-€54m) and operating profits (-€16m), though less than in 2020.
Overall, RATP Group subsidiaries saw their operating profits rebound by €39m compared to 2020, while intensifying their investments towards business development and preparing for the future.
RATP Dev’s activity grew by 7.1% during the first half of 0221, amounting to €620m. The subsidiary saw a €40m improvement in recurring operating profits, despite a sustained development effort to prepare for the future. Three major events marked the first half of 2021:
- In Egypt, the takeover on 25 June of the operation of Cairo metro line 3, and the signing on 3 March of a new contract for the operation of the LRT line between Cairo and the new capital (€80m eventual yearly turnover for both contracts).
- In Tuscany, the Italian State Council gave its final and favourable decision in June, confirming the validity of the call for tenders for the operation of urban buses and coaches in the region. Negotiations are underway with the former operators regarding equipment handover to prepare for a start of the contract before the end of the year, for an eventual yearly turnover of approximately €450m.
- In Riyadh, strong team mobilisation to ensure the commissioning of buses and the metro (lines 1 and 2), pending confirmation of the opening dates by the authorities, which will depend on the health situation.
RATP Cap Ile-de-France, a new subsidiary created to respond to urban and suburban transport calls for tenders in the Île-de-France region (bus, tram, tram-train, heavy rail) continued to structure and ramp-up. It is preparing to take over Optile activities, which are currently operated by RATP Dev, on 1 January 2022.
Through RATP Smart Systems and its Mappy subsidiary, RATP group continued investing in its digital transformation with the aim of becoming the French leader in Mobility as a Service (MaaS) with the launch in June 2021 of “Bonjour RATP”, its new MaaS app that integrates new mobility partners (Marcel chauffeur-driven vehicles and Vélib) as well as Mappy maps.
Urban services activities, driven by the RATP Solutions Ville business unit, which brings together RATP Real estate, RATP Habitat, RATP Connect and RATP Capital Innovation continued to develop, notably through real estate co-promotion projects (in Clichy and Charenton) and the launch of RATP Logistics with its first clients, Chronopost and Amazon. Business grew by 2.2% despite the impact of Covid-19 on RATP Connect activities, and thanks to the ramp-up of RATP Group’s tertiary real estate upgrade programme driven by Urban Station, an RATP Real Estate subsidiary. RATP Solutions Ville positioned itself on two major calls for tenders: first, the call for tenders from the Société du Grand Paris regarding the concession of the Grand Paris Express’ fibre optics network. Second, in partnership with Engie, the call for tenders from the City of Paris for the public service delegation regarding the production and distribution of cooling energy.
Systra’s activities are also rebounding, with a 9.3% growth compared to 2020, and improving results despite the still significant impact of the health crisis. The company recorded €395m in orders during the first half of the year, driven notably by the United Kingdom (phase 2 of the High Speed 2 line project) and France (east and west sections of metro line 15 of the Grand Paris Express, extension of the Tours tram). Its sales pipeline of over €1bn represents approximately 17 months in turnover.