The French investment fund Argos Wityu and the Belgian government are investing an additional 20 million euros in rail freight operator Lineas. Both were already shareholders of the company and they responded to the quest for additional funds by Lineas to implement a new strategy.

Lineas confirms that Argos Wityu and the Belgian government are now working on a first capital increase for the carrier to our sister publication NT. Argos Wityu owns 90 per cent of the shares in the company. The Belgian federal government owns the remaining 10 percent. Both parties are injecting 10 million euros in the company.

Still in need for 80 million

Lineas earlier indicated that it needs a capital injection of 100 million euros. It still needs 80 million euros in additional resources. For this, the company is still looking for a third shareholder.

“In this way, we can bring in someone with specific resources and skills that we do not have at the moment. There are figures that show that rail is the future, so for an investor there are many reasons to invest in rail. Besides, we have a plan. I am therefore convinced that we will have many candidates”, said CEO Bernard Gustin in an earlier interview with NT.

Out of the red numbers

Lineas has been struggling with red numbers for years. Over the financial year that ran between 1 July, 2020 and 31 December, 2021, the carrier saw a net loss of 81.7 million euros. At the end of 2021, Lineas also had more than 303 million euros in debt. In order to make a profit again, former CEO Geert Pauwels was replaced in February 2022 by Bernard Gustin. This CEO, originally from the aviation industry, must use a new strategy to ensure that the company comes out of the red in 2025 and makes a structural profit again.

Although Gustin said the loss was partly due to external factors such as corona, the many disruptions in infrastructure and the floods in the summer of 2021, he also argued that Lineas has focused too much on growth in the past. In the field of intermodal transport, the company now wants to focus mainly on the further development of three corridors. The focus was mainly on the ports of Rotterdam, Antwerp and Zeebrugge. From there, the emphasis is on running trains via both France and Germany to Italy, to Spain via Lyon and to Scandinavia.

This article was originally published on our sister publication NT.