Deutsche Post DHL, the world’s leading postal and logistics group, reported significant gains in both revenues and earnings for 2011.
Revenue rose by 2.8 percent to EUR52.8 billion (US$70 billion) from the previous year’s EUR51.4 billion, climbing to 5.3 percent when adjusted for exchange rate fluctuations.
The group’s operating earnings of more than EUR2.4 billion were almost one-third higher than the previous year’s level, while consolidated net profit totaled EUR1.2 billion. Excluding the Postbank sale, this amounts to a rise of more than 50 percent year-on-year, the German conglomerate said in a March 8 statement.
The exceptional performance of the group largely derives from the strong earnings of the DHL division, particularly in Asia, that fueled an above-average increase in the group’s EBIT.
Express division revenues climbed to EUR11.8 billion, an increase of 5.9 percent above the previous year’s level of EUR11.1 billion. Adjusted for exchange rate and inorganic effects, revenues grew by 10.9 percent in 2011, driven primarily by double-digit growth in volume and revenues for international shipments.
Said Frank Appel, CEO of Deutsche Post DHL: “[The year] 2011 was a very good year for our group. We hit all of our targets, made very good progress with the implementation of our Strategy 2015 and further bolstered the already very strong platform for a sustainable expansion of our earnings in the future.”
For the current year, the company expects further gains in revenues and earnings—driven by the DHL division—amid a moderately growing global economy.
The company forecasts an increase in ebit to between EUR2.5 billion and EUR2.6 billion. While the mail division is expected to contribute between EUR1 billion and EUR1.1 billion to this figure, operating earnings at DHL should increase to around EUR1.9 billion, it said.
