Financial position

The robustness of NS’s financial position is reflected in the structure and the composition of its capital, and the available cash and cash equivalents including committed credit facilities and off-balance sheet liabilities (mainly operating lease liabilities). Standard & Poor’s (S&P), a leading credit rating agency that investigates the financial position of companies, has given NS Groep NV a credit rating of A+ with a stable outlook (based on an underlying credit profile of bbb+, raised by three notches given that the Dutch State is our sole shareholder). In May 2019, S&P adapted the rating from A+/Negative to A+/Stable thanks to the improved results and outlook for NS in the Netherlands. In view of the forecast growth in passenger numbers and the resulting increasing pressure on railways and stations, NS will continue investing in the coming years in trains, stations and ICT systems to make sure it can cope with the rising volumes and continue satisfying customers’ demands. Based on the NS group plan and the initiatives it contains for improving results, NS expects that the available cash flows, the financing capacity and the availability of a residual value scheme for the rolling stock on the main rail network will be sufficient to support the implementation of its investment programme of approximately €3.8 billion in the period through to 2024. The realisation of these improvement initiatives will require a substantial effort from everyone at NS over the next few years.

Key financial figures

*At year-end 2019, the application of IFRS 16 caused the balance sheet to expand by approximately €2 billion due to the inclusion of User rights for property, plant and equipment, and Lease commitments. Without this expansion, the capital base/total assets would have amounted to 51% instead of 40%.
**Working capital: current assets (excl. cash and cash equivalents) -/- current liabilities (excl. loans, provisions and RC credit)