Annual Report 2025 – ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG

ÖBB-Infrastruktur Aktiengesellschaft Group Management Report | Consolidated Financial Statements 4 Other significant subsidiaries The management of real estate and the realisation of real estate projects are, in part, performed by outsourced project companies. In this respect, ÖBB am Hauptbahnhof 2 Projektentwicklung GmbH & Co KG, ÖBB- RealitätenbeteiligungsGmbH & Co KG, Elisabethstraße 7 ProjektentwicklungGmbH & Co KG, Elisabethstraße 9 ProjektentwicklungGmbH & Co KG, Gauermanngasse 2–4 ProjektentwicklungGmbH & Co KG, Operngasse 16 ProjektentwicklungGmbH & Co KG and Mariannengasse 16–20 ProjektentwicklungGmbH & Co KG are particularly worthy of note. The transfer of the infrastructure division of Graz-Köflacher Bahn und BusbetriebGmbH (GKB) to ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG on the basis of the “GKB Infrastructure Transfer Act” of July 2023 took effect upon entry of the demerger in the Commercial Register on 01.07.2024. As part of the organisational integration project, all employees taken on were integrated into the relevant business units or subsidiaries of ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG in 2025. The temporary business unit “GKB-Infrastructure” – established within the Network Expansion and Infrastructure Provision division to integrate the infrastructure division of Graz-Köflacher Bahn und BusbetriebGmbH into ÖBB-InfrastructureAG – was dissolved on 31.12.2025. Underlying economic conditions Economic development Austria’s economy spent the year 2025 in a state of uncertainty and hope. Although – contrary to initial expectations – there was no further decline in GDP. This meant that a third consecutive year of recession following 2023 and 2024 was avoided. However, with an increase of just 0.5% when compared with the previous year, GDP growth was extremely modest following the downturns of recent years. 1 Once again, private consumption provided a boost, although this was significantly more subdued than in the previous year due to prevailing high inflation. Sentiment in the construction sector also gradually improved over the course of the year. Following the expiry of the so-called “KIM Regulation” – the Austrian regulation on residential real estate financing measures – and a fall in interest rates, the building construction sector once again shouldered responsibility for this. 2 Industry also appears to have bottomed out, with production rising for the first time in two years. However, due to high input costs and weak export performance, value added fell by 0.5% year-on-year, marking a decline for a second consecutive year. 3 In the second half of the year, the outlook deteriorated again due to a decline in orders. The significantly higher rate of inflation when compared with the eurozone remained a cause for concern. While the 2% target was achieved in the eurozone following several interest rate cuts by the ECB, inflation in Austria remained at 3.5% even in 2025. This was primarily due to higher grid charges for energy and the prices of labour-intensive services. In any case, excessive inflation continues to exert a dampening effect on Austria’s competitiveness. The outlook for 2026 is equally unpromising, with GDP growth forecast at just 1.2%. The same applies to the global and European context. The former does, however, give cause for hope. The global economy – and global trade, in particular – has to date proved remarkably resilient in the face of the turmoil surrounding US tariffs and the corresponding retaliatory measures taken by individual countries and the EU. On balance, the trend in global container throughput remained stable. Europe experienced a slump in the second half of 2025. However, this was likely due primarily to a rush of activity in the run-up to Trump’s declaration of so-called “Liberation Day”. By the end of the year, container throughput at Europe’s northern ports had recovered. 4 Container freight rates also showed no significant fluctuations. 5 However, inflation in the US is likely to rise from next year as a result of the tariffs, which could further worsen the outlook for demand and, consequently, for European foreign trade. 6 1 WIFO. 2 WIFO. 3 Oxford Economics. 4 RWI / ISL. 5 Trading Economics. 6 IHS.