ABX state bail-out angers road lobby
ABX, the logistics arm of Belgian rail operator SNCB, is to be split in half and part-privatised to stem its mounting losses.
New CEO Karel Vinck put together an immediate restructuring plan following the sudden resignation of Etienne Schouppe, who had held the post only since April.
The prospect of record €443m losses meant a number of operations and assets had to be sold, Vinck said.
He accused his predecessor of taking too long over the restructuring, although Schouppe has been asked to stay on until February.
State-owned SNCB will keep a stake in both parts of ABX and has promised a further financial injection.
This is likely to infuriate Belgian road haulage and forwarding associations, which in a press conference held the week before Vinck’s appointment, argued vociferously that state aid gave ABX an unfair competitive advantage and enabled it to engage in price dumping activities.
Three profitable companies – ABX Logistics in Belgium, Saima Avendero in Italy and Rheinkraft, the German air freight, sea freight and full-load company – will be privatised under Vinck’s plan, raising an estimated t150m.
He did not make clear specifically what would happen to the lossmaking subsidiaries in France and the Netherlands and the larger part of the German operation, dealing with road transport and contract logistics, but said a continuing SNCB stake was necessary to maintain the integrity of the network.
Investors in the profitable segment would be expected to invest also in the lossmakers at a later stage.
Government cash was conditional on the restructuring and on Schouppe stepping down as CEO. But he described his removal as an opportunist political move. He is a member of the Christian Democrat party while Vinck is from the liberal VLD.
nABX Logistics in France has won a contract with Pirelli for the distribution of 30,000 tonnes of tyres a year. The company is renting two warehouses in the Paris suburbs and near Marseille, covering a total of 49,000sq metres, which will be partly dedicated to Pirelli shipments.
ABX’s Italian unit, Saima, already has a contract with Pirelli.
