Kühne + Nagel: 4.7 million TEU seafreight in 2018
2018 was another successful year for Kuehne + Nagel. Despite the market weakening at the end of the year, we succeeded in increasing our net turnover, gross profit and EBIT once again.
| Kuehne + Nagel Group | 2018 | 2017 |
| CHF million | ||
| Turnover | 24,825 | 22,220 |
| Net turnover | 20,774 | 18,594 |
| Gross profit | 7,709 | 7,023 |
| Operational result (EBITDA) | 1,209 | 1,150 |
| EBIT | 987 | 937 |
| Earnings for the year | 772 | 740 |
| Kuehne + Nagel International AG | 2018 | 2017 |
| Dividend per share in CHF | 6.00* | 5.75 |
Dr. Detlef Trefzger, CEO of Kuehne + Nagel International AG, on the Group’s annual result: “2018 was another successful year for Kuehne + Nagel. Despite the market weakening at the end of the year, we succeeded in increasing our net turnover, gross profit and EBIT once again. The consistent implementation of our business strategy was decisive for this success. By introducing additional digital platforms, with new highly specialised solutions and targeted acquisitions, we reached important milestones last year and will continue to pursue our journey.”
Even though the growth momentum of the global economy slowed down at the end of 2018, we confirm our goals for the year ahead. In 2019, we aim at growing twice as fast as the market and improving our results further, complemented with selected acquisitions to our portfolio.”
With a 7.7 percent growth in volume, Kuehne + Nagel gained again market share in seafreight and strengthened its position as the global market leader. The company handled 4.7 million TEU last year, representing an increase of around 335,000 TEU. Significant new business was won with KN ESP, a new digital supplier management system for key accounts introduced in early 2018. The company also launched another new digital platform – Sea Explorer – to provide customers with detailed comparisons for carrier services. Strong growth was recorded in the Asia-Europe trade and in US imports, particularly from Asia.
Airfreight continued its outstanding development in 2018. Kuehne + Nagel increased its tonnage by 11.0 per cent to 1.7 million tons, thereby achieving significantly higher growth than the overall market. Industry-specific solutions for the pharma & healthcare and aviation industries played an important role in this growth. Kuehne + Nagel pursues an active M&A strategy and acquired Quick International Courier, a company in a high growth market that is one of the global leaders in time-critical transport and logistics solutions.
Kuehne + Nagel’s excellent results in overland continued in 2018, with the company achieving significant increases in net turnover, gross profit and EBIT. Net turnover grew by 13.1 per cent and gross profit by 14.3 percent. EBIT improved by 55.1 per cent compared with the previous year. Business in European groupage and less-than-truckload shipments were the primary growth drivers, as well as intermodal shipments and transport management for major customers in North America. Industry-specific solutions for customers from the pharma & healthcare industry played a key role in this success.
In contract logistics, Kuehne + Nagel increased net turnover by 9 per cent and gross profit by 8.8 per cent. The company grew significantly in the USA and Asia. Growth rates of more than 40 per cent were achieved in e-commerce fulfilment.
Even though the growth momentum of the global economy slowed down at the end of 2018, Kühne + Nagel confirms its goals for the year ahead. Detlef Trefzger: “In 2019, we aim at growing twice as fast as the market and improving our results further, complemented with selected acquisitions to our portfolio.”