Little sign of French logistics recovery
Friday, May 02, 2003
The financial figures recently reported by two major French logistics companies give an indication of the state of the French logistics market. Geodis and Norbert Dentressangle both released their revenues for the first quarter of 2003, although operating profits were not published.
Norbert Dentressangle increased its logistics turnover by 32.6% compared with the same period in 2002. However much of this increase was due to last year’s acquisition of fellow French company Stockalliance, although growth on a like-for-like basis still amounted to 6.5%. Logistics, which generated €106m in the quarter, now accounts for 36% of the company’s turnover.
France’s largest transport and logistics company, Geodis, reported less encouraging figures. Its overall revenues dropped by 3.8% compared with the first quarter 2002 although taking into account currency fluctuations and a change in company structure this fall was reduced to -0.8%. In the French market net sales were down 1.8%, and the company blamed this largely on the performance of its logistics business which was affected by the weakness of certain key accounts.
Given that many logistics companies have reported poor trading conditions in France, Geodis’ experience is probably more indicative of the strength of the market. European logistics operators such as ABX, Exel, Tibbett & Britten, TDG and TNT Logistics have all reported that their French subsidiaries have suffered with Christian Salvesen (Darfeuille) being a notable exception.
