SNCF Geodis, the French Railways-owned logistics group, grew strongly in the first half of 2010thanks to various acquisitions and higher freight and express volumes.
SNCF Geodis, which covers the entire SNCF freight transportation and logistics activities,increased revenues by 25.4% to €4.3 billion from January-June 2010. This was a 7.6% revenueincrease on a like-for-like basis.
The bulk of the revenue growth came from Geodis’ acquisitions of the IBM Supply Chain businessand Giraud, SNCF announced in its preliminary half-year results. Most organic growth came fromfreight forwarding, driven by the recovery of Asia-Europe volumes and rising freight rates.Automotive logistics also improved, the group said.
Excluding the Fret SNCF rail freight business, Geodis increased half-year revenues by 37.1% to€3.1 billion, La Tribune reported. This figure incorporated various acquisitions, including that ofFrench express operator Ciblex during the first half-year.
Geodis had organic revenue growth of 11.7%, with a 3.5% rise in express/groupage revenues drivenby higher volumes that compensated for lower prices, the newspaper added.
SNCF will release its full half-year financial results on August 31, 2010.
