SPAIN: Rolling stock supplier Talgo SA has reported a 3·8% year-on-year increase in profit to €61·9m in 2016, with net turnover up 11·3% to €579·8m. CEO José María Oriol said 2016 had been ‘a year of positive results and business performance’.
Pointing out that turnover and operating margins depend on the size and timing of manufacturing projects, the company said last year’s good results were the result of strong manufacturing activity relating to the supply of 36 high speed trainsets for Saudi Arabia’s Haramain High Speed Rail project, as well as ‘solid and recurring’ maintenance business.
Major contracts to supply 15 high speed trainsets to Renfe and overhaul the Los Angeles Red Line fleet would ‘bring quality to our portfolio and guarantee the sustainability of our business model in the long term’, Oriol said, and ‘allow us to explore decisive market segments around the world and to continue to pursue our ongoing diversification strategy’.
International projects represented 82% of Talgo’s revenue in 2016. The company has identified commercial opportunities totalling €6·7bn in the next 24 to 30 months, mainly in Europe, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. It believes high speed rail is the market segment with the greatest growth potential, along with long distance coaches where ‘Talgo’s experience and unique technology represent clear competitive advantages’. The company is also developing a 160 km/h EMU for the regional and suburban market.