South Africa’s Transnet said on Friday it transported 151.7 million metric tons of freight by rail in the financial year that ended in March, up 1.5% from the previous year’s volumes.
A presentation by Transnet CEO Michelle Phillips showed the latest year’s rail volumes were about 1.8% below its recovery plan target of 154.4 million tons. It also showed that revenue rose 12.8% in 2023/24 from the financial year before.
State-owned Transnet has struggled to provide adequate freight rail and port services due to equipment shortages and maintenance backlogs after years of under-investment.
The government handed Transnet a 47 billion rand ($2.5 billion) lifeline in December last year to help it meet its immediate debt obligations.
The company’s underperformance has impacted commodity exports and other sectors such as manufacturing and retail, weakening Africa’s most advanced economy.
Transnet launched a turnaround plan last year which seeks to restore freight volumes and return it to profitability.
This involves splitting its freight rail subsidiary into two, opening up parts of its rail and ports network to private operators and selling non-core assets.