France’s biggest rail freight player, SNCF-owned Rail Logistics Europe (RLE), has posted revenue for the first half of the year of €948 million, a year-on-year increase of 3.9%. EBITDA increased to €118 million versus €110 million, a year earlier, the margin improving from 12% to 12.5%.
Commenting on the performance, Groupe SNCF said RLE had “benefited from the strength of its business model’’ and had “maintained robust levels of activity despite weather-related disruptions and macroeconomic uncertainty.”
Contract wins
As for RLE’s performance by business unit, Forwardis, which specialises in international rail and multimodal freight forwarding, put in a strong first half-year, driven by momentum in its oil and agrifood operations. It recently won a contract with ScandFibre Logistics to serve the Scandinavian paper industry.
“Forwardis will begin operating the international Rail27 service in mid-December 2026. The service will carry 12,000 wagonloads a year from Sweden to over 20 terminals elsewhere in Europe, including Germany, Italy, France and the Benelux countries.” SNCF said.
The first six months of the year were also marked by new business for RLE units in both the steel and cereals sector. Rolling highway operator VIIA, “continued to expand by strengthening its existing rolling highway routes” while Combicargo “was buoyed by sustained volumes and the integration of Seatruck, a Le Havre-based road haulier.” Hexafret also reported a rise in business, reflecting sustained volumes in most of its market segments.
However, Captrain experienced a temporary downturn that reflected disruption on the Iberian and German rail networks where major infrastructure modernisation programmes are currently taking place. This was compounded by exceptionally adverse weather at the beginning of the year, SNCF explained.
49% stake sale
Up to 49% of RLE’s capital is currently up for sale – one of the conditions laid down in an agreement between the European Commission and the French state on the break-up of Fret SNCF which was suspected of receiving billions of euros in illegal aid. Four candidates are reported to be in the race for the stake – French ocean shipping line CMA CGM, Czech entrepreneur Daniel Kretinsky, German logistics group Rhenus and an unidentified private equity fund.
Group results
In general, SNCF’s H1 revenue was up 2% reaching €21.9 billion. EBITDA increased to €3.8 billion compared to €3.6 billion in the first half of 2025. Group net profit rose from €950 million to close to €1.2 billion.
“SNCF Group delivered another satisfactory performance in the first half of 2026, reporting solid results despite a particularly challenging environment marked by winter storms, unusually early heat waves in May and June, an uncertain economic outlook, geopolitical tensions and ongoing conflicts,” commented SNCF Group chairman and CEO Jean Castex.