In the first three months of the year, the Kuehne + Nagel Group continued the positive development of the last two quarters of 2015. While net turnover slightly declined to CHF 4.01 billion, gross profit increased by 6.4 per cent to CHF 1.59 billion. The operational result (EBITDA) grew by 11.2 per cent to CHF 259 million; earnings for the period improved by 10.5 per cent to CHF 169 million compared to the previous year’s period.
In seafreight, Kuehne + Nagel remained on course for growth and increased its transported volumes in numerous relations. Overall, the Group succeeded to expand its container volume by 6 per cent, whilst the international seafreight market grew by around 1 per cent only.
In the global airfreight market no significant positive growth stimuli were recorded; as a result, volumes declined towards the end of the quarter. In the previous year’s period, volumes were additionally increased by a temporary shift of goods from sea to airfreight due to the harbour strike on the US West Coast. Kuehne + Nagel counteracted the unfavourable volume development in North and South America with strong export business in Asia, the Middle East and Africa, and thus, managed to keep overall tonnage stable at the previous year’s level.
During the first three months of 2016, net turnover in the segment overland increased by 18.4 per cent compared to the previous year, thus significantly exceeding market growth. On the one hand, this can be attributed to the good performance of the American ReTrans Group, which was acquired in 2015, and on the other, to the solid development of activities in the European overland business.
In contract logistics, substantial new business was implemented in Asia, Europe and especially in the USA. Compared to the previous year’s period, net turnover rose by 6.4 per cent, clearly exceeding market average.
