Richard Lutz, appointed to head German state railway Deutsche Bahn, was a driving force behind the scotched plan to sell off a stake in its UK-based Arriva division.
Former chief financial officer Lutz (52) succeeds Rüdiger Grube, who resigned abruptly in February (Global News, March) following a row over his contract extension. Before that, Lutz was in charge of international operations.
Both men spearheaded the scheme to list Arriva and the DB Schenker freight division on the London stock exchange. The board shelved the plan last November, saying that the UK’s vote to leave the European Union had derailed its markets.
DB has announced a 2016 profit after tax of €716million (£614million) following a 2015 operating loss of around €1.3billion (£960million). Pretax profit at Arriva remained €525million (£450million); its revenue rose 5%, allowing it to increase capital investment by 30%.
