Deutsche-Post DHL is making optimistic noises about its immediate prospects. In what it called “preliminary quarterly results” the group outlined results for Q3 2021. These saw profits measured in terms of Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) rise by 28% year-on-year to €1.765bn, bringing profits for the 9 months of the year to €5.76bn. Numbers for revenue were not given.
Generally, the market environment has been excellent for DP-DHL, with the company commenting that “volume trends in the past quarter confirm base assumptions with continued well supported B2B recovery and B2C volumes staying at high previous year levels across all major networks. At the same time, the tight capacity situation both in Ocean and Air Freight markets continued”.
The best performance of all of DP-DHL’s businesses seems to be Global Forwarding, Freight which has doubled its EBIT from €155m Q3 2020 to €370m in Q3 2021. Clearly, such results are an example of the benefits of the “tight capacity situation both in Ocean and Air Freight markets” for Global Forwarding, Freight. Express increased proportionately less, but it still saw profits rising by more than a quarter year-on-year, to €970m. At the eCommerce Solutions division, whose growth is also driven by internet-retailing, EBIT rose by €14m to €90m.
A little more surprising is the result at the contract logistics business, DHL Supply Chain. Here profits increased €28m year-on-year, to €140m. However, Post & Parcel Germany saw profits fall by €20m to €320m. Although DP-DHL did not elaborate on the reasons behind the fall, it might be guessed that costs at mail have risen whilst volumes have fallen, yet it is surprising that parcel volumes have not been able to compensate.
These double-digit rises in profits are impressive but Frank Appel, CEO of DP-DHL, thinks that there is better to come, saying the company is “now intensively preparing ourselves for potential record-breaking shipment volumes in the coming weeks and have deliberately built-up capacity in the third quarter, in order to be able to offer our customers continued high-quality service”. Bearing in mind the overheated condition of the container market, this might be an understatement.
Source: Transport Intelligence, 12th October 2021
Author: Thomas Cullen
