DHL has terminated financially unviable contracts to deliver bulky goods of big-name clientsIkea and Karstadt in Germany.
The Ikea contract is to end approximately at the end of February while the agreement withKarstadt is due to expire by the end of March, DHL spokeswoman Sabine Hartmann told CEP-Research,confirming German media reports.
She declined to disclose the value of the contracts. The Financial Times Deutschland (FTD) hadclaimed the contracts with Karstadt and Ikea were worth around €10 million and €15 millionrespectively. The newspaper said the termination of the two-man home delivery services for outsizegoods was decided on financial grounds. DHL also provides other logistics services for the twocompanies.
Hartmann said that the discontinuation of the two-man delivery contracts was the result of theusual business processes and negotiations between DHL and the two companies. “Based on a mutualagreement, the contracts will not be extended,” she said. She refused to disclose the reasonspublicly saying that this is a confidential matter between the two parties.
DHL will continue to provide two-man operations which will remain an important part of DHLSupply Chain services. “We want to provide customised solutions for our customers to respond totheir individual needs while offering added value,” she stressed.
According to the FTD, the logistics operator Rhenus is likely to take over the delivery andinstallation of Karstadt products from DHL while Kuehne + Nagel is the favourite to take over theIkea contract.
