Roger Crook, CEO of DHL Global Forwarding, Freight, and a member of the Management Board of Deutsche Post DHL Group, has stepped down from his mandate today for personal reasons.
The group’s Supervisory Board thanked the 58-year-old, who held leading positions within the Group since 1988, for his longstanding service and acknowledged his commitment in leading the division in a continuously challenging business environment. Crook took over as head of the DHL Global Forwarding, Freight division in 2011 having previously held senior positions at DHL Express, including CEO Asia Pacific and CEO Americas.
The DGF division has been impacted over the last two years by a combination of difficult trading and a major modernisation programme. In 2014, its revenues rose by 0.9% to €14.9 billion, which was an underlying 3.2% rise adjusted for exchange rate effects. Both Air and Ocean Freight showed a volume recovery towards the end of the year, reflected in the final quarter’s 4.9% revenue increase.
But the division’s operating profit fell strongly by 38.7% to €293 million as a result of significant resources being directly involved in the transformation program New Forwarding Environment as well as the detailed management and workforce attention that the project entails.
Speaking at the group’s annual results press conference in March, Crook stressed that the division was undergoing a major transformation from "a paper-based legacy environment to an ERP data environment". The company wants to ensure that the NFE system works properly in the five pilot countries before rolling it out worldwide. The division's 2015 results will be heavily impacted by these ongoing costs.
Pending the appointment of a new Board Member for Global Forwarding, Freight, Frank Appel, CEO of Deutsche Post DHL Group, will take on the corresponding responsibilities in a dual role.
For the operational management of the Global Forwarding business, Renato Chiavi, has been named interim CEO. Chiavi already led successfully the Ocean and Air freight business for former DHL Danzas between 1995 and 2006. Amadou Diallo remains CEO Freight, responsible for Road and Rail Transport services.
