The Jungfrau Railway Group achieved a half-year profit of 11.1 million Swiss francs
The Jungfrau Railway Group can look back on good performance in the first half of 2013. It achieved sales of CHF 77.4 million an increase of CHF 2.3 million or 3.1 percent compared to the prior year. The increase was primarily due to the higher traffic revenues which increased over the same period in 2012 by CHF 2.6 million.

The excursion traffic to the Jungfraujoch-Top of Europe continues to benefit from the activities that took place in 2012 for the 100th anniversary year. Despite less promotions, there were only 5200 less visitors than in the anniversary year to the Jungfraujoch in the first half of 2013 with 334,200 visitors. At the same time, a higher average yield per guest was achieved. Crucial to the continued good visitor numbers was the flourishing business from Asia in particular. It paid off that the company continued the intensive work in the Asian markets and the Jungfraujoch-Top of Europe brand strengthened. In contrast to the excursion traffic to the Jungfraujoch, the winter sports business was down. The economic situation meant that fewer guests from Europe travelled to Switzerland and the JUNGFRAU Ski Region. In addition, the Swiss increasingly spent their holidays abroad. Thanks to the continued good snow conditions, the JUNGFRAU Ski Region, of which the Jungfrau Railway Group has a revenue share of 63 percent, had 916,100 skier visits from 1 January 2013 to the end of the winter season, achieving growth of 1.6 percent. For the Jungfrau Railway Group, revenue from the winter sports business was CHF 18.4 million, representing an increase of 2.1 percent. The result, however, is significantly behind the excellent winter sports years. In the first half of 2013, the Jungfrau Railway Group achieved a profit of CHF 11.1 million, whereby the half-year result is 4.3 per cent higher than the previous year. The company recorded an operating profit (EBIT) of CHF 14.9 million and an EBIT margin of 19.3 percent.

Strategic Projects

V-railway expansion project

The Jungfrau Group and the Gondelbahn Grindelwald-Männlichen AG plan to jointly develop a V-railway which provides access to Männlichen as well as the Eiger Glacier. The project is intended to create new opportunities for the next generation. A common terminal will be built in Grindelwald Grund. Every 40 seconds, a tricable gondola with 27 seats will depart to the Eiger Glacier. An eight-seater gondola will travel between the same base station and Männlichen. Berner Oberland-Bahnen AG surveys to connect the terminal via a new station in the Rothenegg area directly to public transport. The travel times will be reduced. In the future, the journey from Bern could take less than two hours to get to the middle of the ski area. The journey to the Jungfraujoch would now be two and a half hours, 50 minutes less than it is today. The new tricable gondola would take guests from Grindelwald Grund to the Eiger Glacier - the Jungfrau Railway tunnel portal at 2300 metres above sea level - in just 15 minutes, this with a capacity of 2400 people per hour. The tricable gondola lift will be built by Garaventa/Doppelmayr. The Grindelwald community council has developed a building ordinance as a basis for the realisation of these future prospects. This will be open for participation in 2013. The referendum is scheduled for summer 2014. The aim is to open the V-railway in late 2016. Jungfrau Railways and the Grindelwald-Männlichen Cable Railway place importance on leading an intensive dialogue with the affected landowners, mountain communities, authorities, environmental protection and conservation organizations.

New rolling stock

Jungfrau Railways will coordinate the operational concept of Wengernalp Railway with the new cable railway. In the future, a portion of the passengers will be transported by the V-railway instead of the Wengernalp Railway. This would lead to an unbundling at Kleine Scheidegg. The standing room for excursion guests, hikers and skiers/snowboarders could be largely eliminated. Because of the shift, only the capacity of the cog railway would be adjusted. The longest cog railway in the world will remain one whose quality is improved. The Jungfrau Railway Group has already ordered six panoramic trains for the Wengernalp Railway routes and will thus significantly improve the rolling stock. The ride comfort is increased while the operating and maintenance costs will decline. The positive experience in the operational concept gained with WAB2005 should also be adopted for the Jungfrau Railway. The trains will now have a round-trip time of 90 instead of 120 minutes so that the operations can be optimised. At the same time, travel times can be shortened in the tunnel. To make this possible, four three-part low-floor articulated railcars will be purchased for Jungfrau Railways.

Shareholders' Club

All shareholders who own over 250 shares each of Jungfraubahn Holding AG as of the value date 1 October 2013 are members of the Jungfrau Railway Group Shareholders' Club. The best available deals can be found at www.jungfrau.ch/aktionaersclub.

Outlook

The Jungfrau Railway Group has had a good start to the second half of 2013. In July and August 2013, 281,901 people traveled to the Jungfraujoch, 6.6 percent more than the year before.

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