Deutsche Post DHL Group reported Q2 2021 finances and saw revenues increase by 22.2% to €19.5bn, up from €15.9bn in 2020. Thanks to rising global business activities and steadily growing e-commerce, all five divisions benefited from a very strong demand for logistics services. Shipment volumes reportedly reached a new record level and were transported more efficiently than ever before by Deutsche Post DHL Group. Operating profit (EBIT) increased to €2.1bn, compared to €912m in the previous year. The EBIT margin almost doubled to 10.7%, up from 5.7% in 2020. With these results, the Group exceeded the preliminary quarterly figures published in July and confirmed its increased guidance.
“After the global economy had experienced an unprecedented downturn last year, all of our divisions now make a pivotal contribution to accelerate the recovery of global trade. Our entire team performed brilliantly in an environment that remained challenging, enabling us to achieve an outstanding quarterly result”, said Frank Appel, CEO of Deutsche Post DHL Group.
The focus on the profitable core business and the megatrends of e-commerce and digitalisation, defined as part of Strategy 2025, continued to have a positive impact on business performance in the second quarter 2021, stated DHL. The performance in national and international business from April to June was driven by a persisting structural e-commerce trend. At the same time, there was a revitalisation in business activities that are more dependent on global trade, such as contract logistics and the international freight forwarding business.
Express
EBIT of Express more than doubled to €1.2bn, up from €565m in 2020, while revenue increased by 31.8% to around €6.0bn. This was said to be based on the improved utilisation of its global international network. Express strengthened its aviation network by putting 11 additional aircraft into operations in the second quarter. International time-definite express (TDI) shipments increased by 20.2%, with growth across all regions of the world. TDI volumes grew by 23.6% in Europe, in Asia Pacific by 9.8% and in Americas by 36.7%. At 19.8%, the EBIT margin significantly exceeded the prior-year figure, which was 12.5%).
Global Forwarding, Freight
Global Forwarding, Freight was able to increase EBIT by 64.2% year-on-year to €312m. Revenue improved to €5.2bn, up from €4.1bn in 2020, in a market that remained challenging. While ocean freight volumes were on pre-pandemic level (but +20.5% year-on-year), air freight volumes increased even significantly above the pre-pandemic level (and +35.7% year-on-year). In an environment characterised by continued dynamic development of air and ocean freight rates, the division benefited not only from higher volumes but also from productivity gains, according to DHL. The significant improvement in EBIT margin to 6.0%, up from 4.6% in 2020 was also said to be due to digitalisation projects such as the implementation of a new transport management system.
Supply Chain
While Supply Chain’s earnings were still heavily impacted by the pandemic in the previous year, EBIT was at €198m, up from €33m in 2020. Thus, earnings were significantly stronger compared to pre-pandemic levels. Customer activities increased significantly, particularly in the Life Sciences & Healthcare und Auto-mobility sectors, driving year-on-year revenue growth of 21.3% to €3.3bn. The division has thus successfully emerged from the dip in revenue caused by the pandemic, according to DHL. Further growth is said to be ensured by new business amounting to annualised revenue of €559m, which could be concluded in the first half of 2021. EBIT margin climbed to a new operating record of 6.0%, compared to 1.2% in 2020, stated DHL.
e-commerce Solutions
EBIT of the eCommerce Solutions division jumped from €1m in the prior-year quarter to €116m in the second quarter of 2021, while revenue climbed 23.4% to €1.4bn, compared to €1.2bn in 2020. Significant revenue growth of more than 25% was achieved in Cross Border Solutions, which enables European online retailers to ship across Europe with DHL Parcel Connect, said DHL. With an EBIT margin of 8.1%, profitability in the second quarter was significantly above the prior-year figure of 0.1%.
Post & Parcel Solutions
EBIT at Post & Parcel Germany increased to €315m in the second quarter of 2021, compared to €264m in 2020. Revenue was moderately higher year-on-year at €4.2bn, compared to €3.9bn in 2020. e-commerce remained a strong earnings and revenue driver. While the prior-year quarter marked the starting point for a sharp increase in volumes in the parcel business, the parcel volumes further increased by 13.4% in the past quarter. The average parcel volume in Germany was around 7.6m parcels per day. In the mail business, dialog marketing regained strength thanks to the recovery of the advertising markets. Mail volumes grew by around 6.7% compared with a prior-year figure that was heavily impacted by the pandemic. The EBIT margin was 7.6%, thus above the prior year’s level, which was at 6.8%.
Source: DPDHL
