ŠKODA TRANSPORTATION: Last year was as a record in terms of both production and sales, Škoda Transportation reports. Sales in 2014 were up more than 12% on the previous year to KC16·4bn, with net profit rising from KC1·75bn to KC2·27bn.
The company produced 103 low-floor trams, as well as 300 trolleybuses. Key contracts signed last year included the production of traction equipment for 40 metro train sets for Suzhou in China (KC1·1bn), 12 battery trams for Konya in Turkey (KC0·8m), 30 trams for the Slovak capital Bratislava (KC2bn), and three EMUs for Vilnius – Minsk services (KC0·75bn).
Exports accounted for two-thirds of sales. The company is increasingly looking outside its traditional markets in central and eastern Europe, with six six-car push-sets and Type 109E3 electric locomotives due to be delivered to DB Regio by December 2016.
Škoda recruited 200 more employees in 2014 taking its workforce to 4 800, of which 1 900 are at the main plant at Plzeň. There are also joint venture production sites in China, Russia and Hungary.
