German state rail operator Deutsche Bahn announced Wednesday that it booked a heavy loss in 2015, its first in 12 years, largely as a result of writedowns on its cargo business. 

Deutsche Bahn said in a statement it booked a bottom-line loss of 1.3 billion euros ($1.4 billion) last year, its first year-end loss since 2003, due to a exceptional writedowns of 1.7 billion euros on its freight business.