Exel propelled to second place on the FTSE

Speculators were taking a sudden and unusual interest in the logistics industry as a flurry of buy orders propelled Exel to second place on the FTSE 100 leaderboard.

The shares of the freight forwarding and supply chain specialist ended 23p higher at 766p as talk of a bid from Deutsche Post, Europe’s largest postal service provider, swirled around the dealing rooms again.

Now it has to be said that the acquisitive Deutsche Post, which has a market capitalisation of £12.5bn, could afford to make a move on Exel if it so desired – and moving further into logistics would certainly be one way to offset the impact of losing its letter monopoly in Germany.

However, analysts note that Klaus Zumwinkel, the chief of Deutsche Post, has promised to focus on integrating recent acquisitions before expanding further. Deutsche Post has spent around €6bn (£4bn) on acquisitions in recent years, buying the European opera tions of DHL and Airborne, an American delivery service.