ÖBB: Massive Losses in Ireland

CompaniesTransport ♦ Published: March 19, 2011; 11:38 ♦ (Vindobona)

The ÖBB had to write off € 260m because of a sale and lease-back transaction.

ÖBB: Massive Losses in Ireland / Picture: © Wikimedia Commons / NÖLB Mh [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]

The already ailing Austrian Railways Group receives bad news from Ireland. In 2002, 160 Taurus locomotives were sold to a U.S. investor and leased back until 2029. This sale and leaseback transaction results now in a massive write off by the Austrian Federal Railways.

The background is the bad credit of Ireland, since the proceeds from the sale, which are to fund simultaneously…