Deutsche Post releases encouraging 3Q results

Deutsche Post, Europe’s largest postal services group, met expectations with its third-quarter results yesterday and sounded an upbeat note for the rest of the year.

Its optimism came despite the impact of the September attacks in the US and subsequent anthrax scares that have disrupted postal services in Germany and elsewhere.

Deutsche Post, which was partly privatised a year ago, said it still expected full-year earnings before interest, taxes and amortisation (ebita) to rise more than 5 per cent from last year’s level. It also expected 2001 net profit before minority interest to remain at last year’s level.

“The severe disturbances to air traffic to and within the US (in the wake of the September events) had a negative effect on logistics and on (express delivery service) DHL,” it said.

Deutsche Post has also seen disruption and share price volatility as a result of anthrax hoaxes in the last few weeks. However, it dispelled concerns that these would have a major impact on profits, saying it expected anthrax-related costs to total only around Euros 1m (Dollars 892m) this year.

Ebita for the third quarter was Euros 468m, up 8.58 per cent from Euros 431m a year earlier, on sales totalling Euros 8.05bn, boosted by strong increases in the express and logistics divisions.

Analysts said the results were reasonable in the circumstances but not great, particularly given an 11.3 per cent fall in ebita at the core mail division to Euros 415m, on wage increases and weak revenue growth.

Deutsche Post has been trying to diversify away from mail delivery and into areas with higher growth potential. Its non-mail operations – express, logistics and financial services – generated 67 per cent of overall revenues in January-September, up from 65 per cent a year earlier.

Deutsche Post shares were nearly flat at around Euros 16 in late trading.