KiwiRail has faced an 18 percent drop in total recordable injuries and an operating surplus for services ahead of forecast in FY25.
KiwiRail’s FY25 results reflect a year in which the State-Owned Enterprise delivered on its operating surplus target, grew its freight volumes, saw substantial improvement in freight customer satisfaction, retained operating margin and banked significant savings from the first full year of its change programme, despite economic headwinds and other challenges.
The company delivered an operating surplus of NZD 111 million for its services business, up from NZD 105.6 million in FY24 and ahead of the Statement of Corporate Intent target of NZD 110 million.
Rob Jager, the Acting Chair during FY25, said that behind the pleasing headline numbers lay a year of hard work preparing the foundations for growth.
“The company brought NZD 1.1 billion worth of new assets into service, moved the Interislander to a two-ship fleet as part of the preparation for new ferries in 2029, implemented a revised, more focused strategy and embedded our customers’ success as our reason for coming to work every day.
“We have achieved all this while maintaining a relentless focus on improving our safety performance and pursuing new commercial opportunities.”
Jager said while KiwiRail remains far from satisfied with its safety performance, it continues to make progress in terms of systems, processes, culture and safety outcomes with an 18 percent fall in total recordable injuries, a 19 percent reduction in High-Potential Near Miss events, an indicator of critical safety risks, and a seven percent reduction in the Total Recordable Injury Frequency Rate.
“Our people are the heart of our business, and nothing is more important than their safety and wellbeing. There is much more work to do and we remain committed to ensuring everyone goes home safely every day and we are making further system level pivots to continue our strong focus on this priority,” said Jager.
“We also continue to deliver on the sustainability front, with rail freight meaning one million fewer heavy truck trips per year.”
Chief Executive Peter Reidy said the result reflected the efforts the organisation had made in a challenging environment.
“The first half of FY25 saw the business face revenue challenges including the closure of the WPI plant and Oji Mill and the short-term reduction in coal transport capacity resulting from the Tawhai Tunnel closure and remediation, near Reefton, but the second half of the year saw better results on the back of improved service reliability, the re-opening of the Tawhai Tunnel, improved export volumes and the return of some customers to rail,” said Reidy.
“At the end of the year, total freight volumes were up 2.7 percent. There was also a significant 45-point improvement in the freight customer net promoter score over the year.”
Interislander also had an improved year, with cancelled sailings reduced by 40 percent over the prior year (excluding weather cancellations) and commercial vehicle market share growing. The commercial vehicle customer net promoter score improved 21 points, reflecting improvements in communication with customers and in assistance offered when there is a disruption.
The Scenic business performed well, with a lift in revenue of 28 percent despite a slower-than-expected recovery of overall inbound tourism numbers, and the Property business unit delivered a solid performance.
Reidy said during the year the Infrastructure business unit delivered upgrades, including 37.5km of track works, 17 turnouts, 15 track level crossings, three active level crossings and 10km of signals cable replacement under the Rail Network Investment Programme.
FY25 also saw the completion of significant capital projects worth circa NZD 1.1 billion delivering improved network performance. The projects included the Hillside and Waltham depots which were both completed under budget, the Wiri to Quay Park “third main” line, the electrification of the line between Papakura to Pukekohe.
Reidy said FY25 had set KiwiRail up well to build on its performance in FY26 and beyond.
“We will continue to strive for the improved on-time safe performance and delivery that our customers seek.”
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