Kuehne + Nagel group kept course throughout 2009
Cost reductions and sales offensive yielded solid results for Kuehne + Nagel in 2009
Even the considerably shrunk world economy could barely harm Kuehne + Nagel Group. The globally active transport and logistics service provider based in Schindellegi in Switzerland defied the difficult economic conditions in 2009. Although total turnover and the operating result declined compared to the previous year, the enterprise kept its leading role in the transport and logistics business regarding its key figures. Moreover it gained market share in all business units in the reporting period. Thanks to strict cost management and anti-cyclical investments in sales and the development of industry-specific solutions, the 2009 balance of Kuehne + Nagel showed an operational result of CHF 885 million (down 13.2 per cent) and net earnings of CHF 467 million (down 20.2 per cent). The latter named value includes also an extraordinary provision of CHF 35 million set aside in connection with an antitrust dispute. The total turnover amounted to CHF 17.4 billion; a 19.4 per cent decrease compared with the year 2008 (Europe: down 18.5 per cent). Gross profit of CHF 5,86 billion was 6.2 per cent below the previous year. Despite the stable development of contract logistics results, ocean freight remained the biggest segment with a turnover of CHF 7.67 billion. In this segment Kuehne + Nagel lost about 4.6 per cent of the transport volume (total market: down 12 per cent) in the 2009 reporting period. Air freight posted a 9.2 per cent decline in volume compared to 2008. As for land transport the group was able to partly compensate for the substantial fall in European general cargo transport through market share gains in fields of full truckload and less than truckload, along with solid business performances in Germany and France. At the closing day of the balance sheet Kuehne + Nagel had approximately 55,000 employees at 900 locations in over 100 countries. Quelle: Österreichische Verkehrszeitung |