Panalpina felt the pressure on margins in 2016
In a very challenging environment, Panalpina reported a reduced EBIT and profit for the 2016 financial year. EBIT reached CHF 82.0 million (2015: CHF 117.2 million) and the adjusted consolidated profit amounted to CHF 52.3 million in 2016. Net revenue amounted to CHF 5.19 billion, after CHF 5.85 billion in 2015. In 2016, Panalpina’s gross profit decreased 3.3 percent to CHF 1.42 billion. The adjusted EBIT to-gross-profit margin came in at 7.7 percent and the adjusted consolidated profit amounted to CHF 80.2 million.
“2016 represented a very challenging year. Much lower volumes from the oil and gas sector meant that we had to restructure that part of our business during the first half-year. In the second half, the Hanjin collapse and the very busy air freight peak season led to tight capacities and soaring rates which put strong pressure on our margins,” says Panalpina CEO Stefan Karlen when presenting the balance. “While we continued to perform well on volumes, pressure on margins impacted our profits
Panalpina’s Ocean Freight volumes decreased 7 percent year-on-year, but increased from quarter to quarter as the year progressed. The market grew by an estimated 1percent in 2016. Panalpina transported 1.49 TEU in 2016 (2015: 1,593,900 TEUs). Gross profit per TEU of Ocean Freight decreased slightly by 1.1 percent.
Panalpina’s Air Freight volumes increased 10 percent in 2016, in a market that grew by an estimated 1-2 percent. The company transported 921,400 tonnes of air cargo last year (2015: 836,200 tonnes), and thus recorded the highest air freight volumes since 2007.
In Logistics, gross profit decreased 5.8 percent to CHF 385.7 million and adjusted EBIT increased to CHF 5.6 million for 2016, compared to CHF 2.1 million last year. This marked the second positive year for Logistics on EBIT level.
The Panalpina group with headquarters in Basel is one of the world’s leading providers of supply chain solutions. The company combines its core products airfreight, seafreight and logistics into globally integrated, customised end-to-end solutions, based on a global network with some 500 own branches in more than 75 countries, and partnerships in 90 more countries. Panalpina employs approximately 14,500 people worldwide.
