Frans Maas improves margins and expand eastwards

Frans Maas, the Dutch based freight forwarding and contract logistics company, has released its results for the first half of 2003. Although revenues for the group fell marginally to €514.4m from €516.3m the year before, it was able to increase its operating profits by 14.5% to €14.2m with an operating margin of 2.8%.

The results also showed that whereas its freight forwarding operation performed much better compared with 2002 its logistics business was still being adversely affected by lower volumes, especially in the high tech sector. Throughout the period the company made progress in expanding its network into eastern and central Europe. It acquired 20% of Lithuanian forwarder Eurotolis and expects to establish logistics centres in Russia, Slovenia and Serbia. It will also start up operations in North Africa with a location in Tunisia.

In the late 1990s Frans Maas expanded rapidly through acquisition, increasing its turnover by about 60% from 1997. However revenues have been flat over the last two years as the company turned its attention to stabilizing its falling margins. These have been caused largely as a result of exposure to the weakening European economies, particularly Germany. The company is the European partner for FedEx’s international less-than-truck load (LTL) business.