Deutsche Post DHL on target for 2018 goals
Deutsche Post DHL Group has reported a revenue of €14.7bn for the first quarter (Q1) and “remains confident” that it will achieve its goals for 2018.
In a statement issued yesterday (8 May), Deutsche Post DHL said that its Q1 revenue was a “slight decline” from last year, but this was “mainly attributable to negative currency effects and the sale of the subsidiary Williams Lea Tag” . On an organic basis – after adjusting for currency and portfolio effects – group revenue was up by a “substantial” 6.4% and operating profit rose by 2.3% to €905m.
Deutsche Post DHL said that the international express business saw “particularly dynamic growth” during the first quarter.
“Overall, we had a good start to the year, although we still have a lot of work ahead of us during the remainder of the year. Global e-commerce continues to boom, meaning that the most important growth driver for our businesses is still intact. We remain confident that we will achieve our ambitious goals for 2018 and beyond,” said Frank Appel, CEO of Deutsche Post DHL Group.
Focusing on the outlook for 2018 as a whole, Deutsche Post DHL said that it continues to expect an operating profit of around €4.15bn – of which the Post – eCommerce – Parcel (PeP) division is expected to generate around €1.5bn.
In Q1, revenue in the PeP division increased by 1.7% to €4.6bn. The division’s positive performance was primarily attributable to growth in revenue in the eCommerce – Parcel business unit. Revenue increased by 6.3% at Parcel Germany, 9.9% at Parcel Europe and 2.6% at eCommerce, where – after adjusting for currency effects – revenue even rose by 16.8%. In the Post business unit, revenue decreased by 1.5% to €2.5bn, due to the ongoing decline in mail volumes.
Operating profit in the PeP division fell by 9.9% to €383m. Deutsche Post DHL said that the decrease “primarily reflects higher costs and capital expenditure, which are partly related to the growth of the business”.
The Express division had another good quarter, with revenue up by 4.9% to €3.8bn and profit up 16.4% to €461m. Deutsche Post DHL said the “dynamic” performance was “once again driven by strong growth in the international time-definite (TDI) delivery business, where daily volumes rose by 9.6% compared with the prior-year period”.
