Montenegro's ZPCG's Q1 intl passenger numbers up 14% y/y

ZPCG's revenue from international traffic rose by 28% on the year to 302,000 euro ($321,000) in January-March, the company said in a statement last week, without providing details about the performance of its domestic activities.

In 2023, ZPCG transported a total of 169,183 international passengers, marking a record-high number. This contributed to a record-high revenue of 1.97 million euro related to international traffic, the company said without providing an annual comparison.

Both international and domestic transport generated combined revenue of 3.52 million euro last year, up from 2.93 million euro in 2022.

Last year, ZPCG invested a total of 1.87 million euro in rolling stock, which included overhauling sleeping cars, couchettes, and sitting passenger cars for international transport, as well as refurbishing locomotives for domestic passenger transportation.

The company is close to signing a 30 million euro loan deal with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for the purchase of 4-car electro-motor unit (EMU) sets to be used for operations across the railway network of Montenegro. The new rolling stock will replace the old, energy inefficient locomotive-hauled train sets currently in operation.

The EBRD said earlier in April that the loan deal is pending approval on June 26.

ZPCG has said earlier that its net profit plunged to 395,000 euro last year, from 912,000 euro in 2022.

Its shares last traded on the Montenegrin bourse on March 21, 2023 closing flat at 0.399 euro. The company is 90.8%-owned by the state.

In February, the government in Podgorica took action towards facilitating the merger of state-controlled rolling stock maintenance firm Odrzavanje Zeljeznickih Voznih Sredstava (OZVS) and ZPCG, aiming to save the former from bankruptcy.

($ = 0.941 euro)