Deutsche Post DHL Group produced revenue growth of 6% to €14.6bn in the third quarter of 2017, compared to the previous year. Partially driven by this top-line growth, EBIT rose at a rate of 10% over the same timeframe, totalling €834m.
Group CEO Frank Appel stated: “We had a strong third quarter with record earnings yet again. All divisions of our company registered growth thanks to our strategic focus on rapidly expanding sectors such as international e-commerce. By investing in the future and developing groundbreaking innovations, we are continuously expanding our market-leading position”.
Revenue in the Post – eCommerce – Parcel (PeP) division increased by 6.9% to €4.3bn in the third quarter. The division’s positive performance was primarily attributable to growth in volumes and revenue in the eCommerce – Parcel business unit, though revenues in the Post business unit also rose at a rate of 0.6% to €2,083m. Parcel Germany revenue increased by 5.5% to €1,178m, while eCommerce revenues climbed by 9.2% to €367m. The most substantial gain was posted by Parcel Europe, however, where revenue grew by 62.9% to €448m (primarily due to the inclusion of UK Mail results of €125m). Excluding the impact of UK Mail, Parcel Europe grew by 17.5% as a result of additional parcel infrastructure transferred from the Express division, new facility developments and collaborations with a number of national post offices.
EBIT in the PeP division increased by 5.1% to €308m in the third quarter compared with the prior-year period. The principal factors contributing to the increase were the growth of the German Parcel business, stable Post revenues and cost management measures, while earnings growth was restricted by investments in the international parcel network and the eCommerce business.
DHL Express continued to provide growth in both revenues and profits, driven by volume growth of 11.9% within the company’s core Time Definite International operation. Volume growth was registered in all regions: MEA (31.5%), Americas (20.4%), Europe (14.8%) and Asia/Pacific (4.5%). TDI revenues rose by 13.7%, driving an overall revenue increase of 8.5% to €3,645m. EBIT grew by 10.4% to €372m on the back of yield management and network investments.
Revenue in the Global Forwarding, Freight division was up 5.1% to €3,533m in the third quarter of 2017. The division registered significant volume growth in both air (8%) and ocean (8.5%) freight. Road and rail transport volumes also rose in Europe, particularly in Germany and Sweden. The division’s EBIT increased by 6.3% to €67m, as the measures initiated to increase profitability at Global Forwarding, Freight begin to take effect. Nonetheless, there remain underlying concerns based on freight rates, which broadly track the market; DHL Global Forwarding saw a 2.7% decline in gross profit, driven primarily by the company’s ocean freight operations, which saw a 7.7% decline (air freight gross profit was down 3.2%).
Revenue in the Supply Chain division increased by 2.3% to € 3,495bn in the third quarter. Organically, revenue grew by 6.1% over the prior-year quarter. The division concluded additional contracts with a total volume of €415m, signed with both new and existing customers during the third quarter (compared to deals worth €306m in Q3 2016). Operating profit climbed by 8.0% to €148m. The increase reflects not only growth in new business, but also the impact of the division’s optimisation program aimed at improving the EBIT margin to between 4% and 5% by 2020.
Source: DPDHL Group
