The company, seen as a barometer for the Russian economy as it transports the oil, coal and metals that are its lifeblood, posted an 86 percent rise in net profit last year as Russia recovered from the economic crisis.
Chief Executive Sergey Maltsev said continually improving economic conditions had boosted freight volumes, and forecast 20 percent revenue growth this year on the back of 32 percent in 2010. He said new rolling stock and a liberalisation of the market would also help improve performance.
"We have reasons to be optimistic. We don't see any threats to the development in the Russian economy and we plan to pursue an investment programme with 5,000 new rail cars coming through," he told reporters on a conference call.
Globaltrans shares were up 0.6 percent in London at 0840 GMT. They have climbed 44.5 percent in the past year.
Any Acquistion
Russia's rail cargo volumes rose 5.5 percent to 294.6 million tonnes in January-March, year on year, state operator Russian Railways said on Monday.
Maltsev said Globaltrans was outperforming the market, and had a current market share of just over 5 percent.
He added that the group's strong balance sheet allowed it to be open to growth opportunities, with the acquisition of Russian Railways' around $5 billion unit Freight One a distinct possibility.
"We are interested in any acquisition that moves around the railways," he said.
"In April the board of Russian Railways is expected to come up with a preliminary value (for Freight One), then the Russian government will come up with a format and timeline for the sale ... based on that we will make the relevant decision on whether we are interested in the acquisition," Maltsev added.
Freight One is being sold by Russian Railways to raise cash for new infrastructure. The division was valued by its CEO at $5 billion just over a year ago, when it had been earmarked for a stock-market float.
Globaltrans said its full year net profit climbed 86 percent to $225.9 million. The company said it would pay $0.37 a share or a total of $58.5 million in dividends, more than double last year's pay-out. (Reuters)
