Panalpina expects market growth to slow down
Globally acting transport and logistics group Panalpina improves profitability in first half of 2011:
The Panalpina group (Basel) is preparing for difficult conditions. CEO Monika Ribar expects world trade and market growth to turn out weaker than anticipated earlier in the year, as she emphasised when presenting the business figures of the period January to June 2011. Panalpina has therefore lowered its market growth expectations for 2011 to 1-2 per cent for air freight and to 5 per cent for ocean freight.
Net forwarding revenue in the first six months of 2011 amount to CHF 3.48 billion, while gross profit amounts to CHF 744 million. This is an increase of 5 per cent compared to last year’s figure (+15% currency adjusted). North America reported the highest gross profit growth in local currencies, closely followed by Latin America. In the segments, gross profit growth was led by Air Freight, which was mainly driven by strong yields in a slowing market. The EBITDA-to-gross profit margin remained stable from the first to the second quarter despite the slowing environment and increased year-on-year from 12.4 to 14.7 per cent.
The strong focus on unit profitability led to an increase of gross profit per ton of air freight by 9 per cent (+20% currency adjusted) despite the adverse impact from the strong Swiss franc. Gross profit per TEU of Ocean Freight decreased by 7 per cent (+6% currency adjusted) year-on-year. The profitability restoration program had an impact on the transport volumes. Volumes in Air Freight were down by 2 per cent in the first half of the year. In Ocean Freight volumes were up by +2 per cent in the first half.
The Panalpina group is one of the world’s leading providers of supply chain solutions, combining intercontinental air and ocean freight with comprehensive value-added logistics services and supply chain services. The Panalpina Group operates a global network with some 500 branches in more than 80 countries and employs approximately 15,000 people worldwide.
Quelle: LogEastics
Portal: www.logistik-express.com