Deutsche Post DHL announces volume declines in products and division

Deutsche Post DHL, el mayor proveedor logístico del mundo, registró durante el primer trimestre un aumento en el descenso del volumen de actividad y de los productos y divisiones; en comparación al cuarto trimestre de 2008. Sin embargo, el descenso de este índice se ha estabilizado habiendo alcanzado su punto más bajo.

The Group's headquarters Overall profitability toward the end of the quarter increasingly benefited from the restructuring of the DHL U.S. Express business. In the EXPRESS Corporate Division all regions outside the U.S. recorded profitable business.

All other Corporate Divisions showed positive underlying and reported earnings before interest and tax (EBIT). However, only the Corporate Division SUPPLY CHAIN recorded an improvement in underlying EBIT compared with the year-earlier period.

Despite one additional working day, the MAIL division could not mitigate the negative revenue impact mainly driven by the economic downturn and an increase in wage expenses. Underlying EBIT in MAIL hence was approximately EUR 150 million below the level of the first quarter 2008.

Despite significant U.S. restructuring costs, Deutsche Post DHL in total recorded a slightly positive reported EBIT in the first quarter. On an underlying basis, Group EBIT declined less than 50%. Continued progress in the Group's efforts to cut indirect costs by at least EUR 1 billion by the end of 2010 and cost measures in response to the volume declines in the divisions mitigated the heavy economic headwind.

With close to EUR 1 billion, Deutsche Post DHL's first-quarter net profit was considerably ahead of last year's number as the financial result was positively impacted by the market valuation of the Group's put options on Postbank shares. In addition to that, discontinued operations benefited from deconsolidation effects.

(c) Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation. Date posted: 22-Apr-09