DP DHL reports fall in profits in Q2 as strikes take their toll


Deutsche Post DHL has announced its financial results for the second quarter of 2015. It reported revenue of €14.7bn in Q2, an increase of 7.3% year-on-year. The company also recorded an EBIT of €537m, a fall of 18.1% against Q2 2014. Accordingly DP DHL’s Q2 margin stood at 3.65%.

The increase in revenue was largely the result of positive currency effects, if these are excluded then organic revenue growth was just 0.6%. DP DHL stated that, while the international express and e-commerce-fuelled parcel businesses continued to develop dynamically, stronger group revenue growth was held back by declines in the Post segment, mainly due to strike action, as well as lower fuel surcharges in the DHL divisions.

These effects, combined with strategic restructuring, also led to the decline in EBIT in the second quarter. In Q2 the strike action alone negatively affected EBIT to the tune of €100m, accounting for some more than three quarters of the EBIT decline.

“After the successful execution of Strategy 2015, the current year represents a year of transition. In the second quarter we worked very hard and took important steps towards the successful implementation of our Strategy 2020. With that, we want to ensure the long-term, profitable growth of the group. To achieve this, we have recorded some short-term impact on our results. At the same time, we are convinced that these measures will contribute to accelerated earnings growth in the next year and enable us to achieve all our targets set for 2016 and beyond,” said Frank Appel, CEO of DP DHL.

More to follow.