Panalpina upbeat despite tough year
Global freight forwarder and logistics provider, Panalpina, has released its figures for 2002. In what was a challenging year, the company produced net revenues of CHF 5,179m (€3,429m), a drop of 3.8% over 2001. Operating profits (EBIT) fell by 5.2% to CHF 144.9m (€95.9m). However the management stated that given the difficult economic environment, the results were more than satisfactory.
The company placed the blame for the fall in revenues and profits on the volatility in freight rates, currency changes and the economic crisis in Latin America. However it reported that its sea freight volumes had grown by 16% to 640,000 teu and air freight volumes by around 5%. A boom in the forwarding related services to the oil industry offset weakness in the European and North American high tech sectors. Despite being Panalpina’s smallest business unit, its logistics division produced the best performance. Revenues rose by 3.6% to CHF 768m (€508m) although no operating profits were released.
Overall Panalpina has a very strong balance sheet, with considerable resources to fund further investment in the company’s infrastructure. In the past this has mainly taken the form of investment in IT systems, but the possibility of acquisitions in 2003 has not been ruled out. The company is confident that it will perform well again in 2003 with growth in key sectors such as automotive, healthcare/pharma and high tech. Growth in the Asia Pacific Rim region is also expected to be above average.
