Nurminen Logistics net sales fall to €69.3m in 2019

Nurminen rail freight Hefei Helsinki

Nurminen Logistics reported a total revenue (net sales) of €69.3m in 2019 down from €78.9m the year before, a decrease of -12.2% year-on-year. EBIT (operating profit) was recorded at -€8.5m, a year-on-year change of -12.3%. EBIT decreased, mainly due to impairment loss on goodwill.

Net sales in railway logistics increased compared to the previous year. The growth in net sales was mainly due to the year’s most important project, the integration of regular China cargo train service into Nurminen Logistics’ operations and commercial activities. Establishing the train route was a significant effort and weighted heavily upon the EBIT of the company.

Nurminen Logistics’ freight forwarding remained profitable. To increase growth and to add diversity to service portfolio Nurminen Logistics Services Oy executed an acquisition in accordance to its strategy in which PFC Nordic Oy, a growing company with high-quality service, became part of freight forwarding business by Nurminen Logistics. Freight forwarding net sales increased from the prior year and profitability improved slightly. The slowdown in both import to and export from Finland was visible in the demand for the services during the last quarter of the year.

Cargo services net sales decreased compared to the previous year. During the review period, cargo services were unprofitable due to low utilisation rate at Vuosaari terminal. In Kotka, the utilisation rate was on good level and services profitable.

Volumes in the project logistics and chemical transport continued to be steady and profitable.

Nurminen Logistics divested its Russian based train wagons and related business in late 2018. The new business is based on leasing and brokering train wagons. Russian subsidiary OOO Nurminen Logistics’ net sales and profitability decreased year-on-year due to change in business concept. The company’s result was slightly positive during the review period.

Like with many forwarding businesses witnessed in 2019, Nurminen CEO, Tero Vauraste, also noticed, “Demand for freight forwarding services slightly decreased during the second half of 2019 as the volumes of international trade to Finland were in decline”.

Source: Nurminen Logistics