Deutsche Bahn Logistics Schenker GBP 10 bn revenues

Deutsche Bahn has announced half year results for 2007, with an increase in revenues of 5.8 percent to GBP 10.3 billion.

The company is a large and complex group of businesses with its core rail activity notable for its high capital investment and has seen an increase in operating profit of 44 percent to GBP 1 billion.

However Deutsche Bahn Logistics Schenker brand has shown considerable growth over the past six months, with revenues year-on-year up 8.1 percent at GBP 4.5 billion. EBIT was up 10.3 percent at GBP 129 million.

Schenker’s European ‘networked’ road transport has grown by 10 percent over the period, gaining market share. Schenker is Europe’s largest ‘less than trailer load’ operator yet it is reporting that demand has been so strong that it is suffering from a shortage of capacity.

Schenker says that demand is also strong in the ocean freight forwarding market, where it is one of the leading global players, but its margins have tightened due to the general shortage of space on key routes.

Schenker’s growth

Airfreight is growing less quickly with what it describes as ‘stagnation’ on trans-Atlantic routes but good development of the intra-Asian routes. In both businesses, however, Schenker is gaining market share. Schenker describes growth in its logistics business as being in ‘double digits’ with Europe remaining the centre of activity.

Schenker confirms that the market for freight forwarding and for network transport is consolidating, however it is not exploiting this quite as spectacularly as K+N and Panalpina.

DB has also seen growth in its rail freight, which at 4 percent is growing faster than the German transport sector generally. DB singled out bulk sectors such as chemicals and building materials as buoyant as intermodal container traffic. EBIT grew at 49 percent.