DHL Express improved its operating profits considerably in the second quarter of 2007 thanks tolower US losses, growth in Europe and strong results in Asia and other world markets.
DHL Express increased revenues by 3% to EUR 3,421 million from April – June 2007 and itsoperating profit was up 28.6% to EUR 99 million, Deutsche Post World Net announced in its half-yearresults today.
Over the first six months, revenues grew 2% to EUR 6,754 million while EIBT improved to EUR161 million from an operating loss of EUR 19 million in the same period last year. The H1 revenuefigure, however, included negative currency effects of EUR 223 million. Measured in localcurrencies, DHL Express generated organic revenue growth of 6.2%. For the full year, DPWN isexpecting DHL Express to make an operating profit of some EUR 325 million.
“Around the world, the Express business profited from the strong growth of the high-margininternational express business in all regions,” commented DPWN CFO Edgar Ernst. “Internationalshipping volumes rose by 3.7% worldwide. Domestic volume was somewhat weaker but still positivewith a growth rate of 2.2%.”
In Europe, the largest region, half-year revenue increased by 1.3% to EUR 3,188 million,including organic growth of 3.9%. International express grew, and nearly all countries increasedshipping volumes, Ernst said. In Q2, Europe revenues were up 1.2%.
In the Americas, H1 revenue was up 3.6% in local currency terms but down 3.5% to EUR 2,100million due to the strong euro versus the weak dollar. Q2 revenues in the Americas were down only1.4%. DPWN said that in line with the slowing overall market shipment volumes remained weak in theUnited States but were offset by higher yields. In Q2, US operations improved satisfactorily,particularly in terms of Ground and International products, and were boosted by a new contract withDell. Ernst noted that the US losses continued to fall in the first half-year.
In Asia Pacific, DHL Express increased half-year revenues by 5.4% to EUR 1,238 million, withQ2 revenues up by 6.8%. The emerging markets region, covering Eastern Europe, the Middle East andAfrica, increased H1 revenues by 28% to EUR 508 million. In these two regions, greater shipmentvolumes combined with weight increases more than offset negative currency effects, DPWN noted.
Meanwhile, DHL Parcels Germany, now part of the Mail division, has stopped its volume lossbut revenues are still impacted by price cuts for consumer parcels last year, Ernst said. “We arevery satisfied with the volume development in the first half-year,” he commented. The ParcelGermany unit increased volumes by 1.1% to 356,411 items in the first six months, with businessparcels up by 1.2% and private customer parcels stagnating at +0.1%. H1 revenues, however, weredown 2.9% to EUR 1,214 million.
