Panalpina revenues down 11.3% for the year


Panalpina have announced its financial results for Q4 and the financial year ending December 31, 2016. The group announced a decline in net forwarding revenue for the year, down 11.3% to *CHF5,196m. EBITDA was down 5.2% to CHF160m.

In Q4, net forwarding revenue decreased 7.9% year-over-year to CHF1,333m. EBITDA fell to CHF28.9m, down 21.7% on the same period in the previous year.

Air freight volumes increased 10.2% in the year, but revenues in this sector were still down 0.7% overall. Ocean freight volumes decreased 6.6%, leading to a 22.8% decrease in net forwarding revenue. The logistics sector saw net forwarding revenue fall 9.0%.

Stefan Karlen, CEO of Panalpina said, “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. While we continued to perform well on volumes, pressure on yields impacted our profits.”

Looking ahead to 2017, Karlen added, “The unusually strong air freight peak season, and the temporary capacity constraints in the ocean freight market in 2016, mean that we have to concentrate even more on improving our yield management, especially when it comes to our Ocean Freight operating model. Yields have continued to remain under pressure in January and February and we expect the first quarter to come in below the previous year. Despite 2017 being a year of great political and macroeconomic uncertainties, we are keeping to our long-term goals and are confident that we can maintain stable costs to position the business for volume growth.”

Source: Panalpina

*$=0.98 CHF/€= 1.09 CHF