Panalpina delivers stable profits during turnaround
The Panalpina Group: Drastically reduced loss in Logistics and strong growth in Ocean Freight volumes in the first nine months of the year
International freight forwarding and logistics company Panalpina kept up overall profitability in the first nine months of 2014. Undeterred by ongoing restructuring, group gross profit and EBIT both increased 1% (currency adjusted +6% and +4%), reaching CHF 1,178.7 million and CHF 94.4 million respectively.
EBIT loss in Logistics was reduced drastically to CHF 6.9 million for the period of January to September (down from CHF 26.8 million in the same period of 2013). Air Freight and Ocean Freight volumes grew 4% and 8% year-to-date, but unit profitability decreased due to margin pressure and currency effects.
“We have managed to keep up profitability in the first nine months of the year,” says Panalpina CEO Peter Ulber. “I am particularly pleased with our progress in Logistics, where we have significantly reduced losses and are close to reaching break-even. We also showed continued good volume growth in Air Freight and very strong volume growth in Ocean Freight.”
Panalpina’s Ocean Freight volumes grew a strong 8% in the first nine months of 2014. This was in part the result of some important new business wins in the area of managed solutions. The ocean freight market grew approximately 4%. High rate volatility remains an issue.
“With our Logistics business likely to reach break-even far earlier than anticipated, our main focus has now clearly shifted to improving our performance in Ocean Freight,“ comments Peter Ulber. “We already produce high volumes, but we have to reengineer processes and roll out the next generation IT platform.” Panalpina expects the air and ocean freight markets to grow by 3% and 4% respectively in 2014.
www.panalpina.com
Quelle: LogEastics
Portal: www.logistik-express.com