The Kuehne + Nagel Group once again reports a considerable improvement to its results in the 2019 business year. Net turnover increased by 1.5% to CHF 21.1 billion and gross profit also increased by 3.5% to CHF 8.0 billion against the previous year. EBIT was up 7.5% at CHF 1.1 billion, exceeding the billion-CHF mark for the first time. Earnings for the year were up 3.6% at CHF 800 million.
Dr. Detlef Trefzger, CEO of Kuehne + Nagel International AG, comments: “In a changing market, we continued to see our strategy yield success. In seafreight and overland, our focus on customer service, cost-effectiveness, operational systems, and digitalisation has once again paid off. We managed to keep results stable in the more volatile airfreight business. In contract logistics, the restructuring of the product, customer and real estate portfolios led to a considerable improvement in results.”
Seafreight
Net turnover was up 4.6% at CHF 7.5 billion and gross profit was up by 3.8% at CHF 1.5 billion. The business unit again achieved growth in a stagnating market. A total of 4.9 million standard containers (TEU) were shipped, 171,000 TEU more than last year (up 3.6%).
EBIT increased by 9.1% to CHF 456 million against the previous year. The business unit restored the conversion rate (EBIT to gross profit ratio) to 29.6%.
Airfreight
In the 2019 business year, the drastic drop in demand for airfreight, particularly in key European industries and the perishables business, drove a decline in net turnover to CHF 4.7 billion. Airfreight volume at Kuehne + Nagel fell 5.7% against the previous year to 1.6 million tonnes.
Gross profit was up 9.6% at CHF 1.3 billion whereas EBIT was down against the previous year at CHF 329 million.
Overland
In the 2019 business year, net turnover for overland grew 1.7% against the previous year at CHF 3.6 billion and gross profit increased by 3.0% to CHF 1.1 billion.
The business unit added to the European network with the acquisition of Joebstl in Austria as well as Rotra, a road transport provider in the Belgium and the Netherlands. Business with large-scale customers continued to drive growth in North America, whilst the intermodal business weakened because of a falling oil price. The business unit expanded its presence in South East Asia with the launch of a new digital booking platform. EBIT improved by 2.6% to CHF 78 million.
Contract logistics
In the 2019 business year, net turnover in contract logistics was up 2.8% versus the previous year at CHF 5.4 billion; the restructuring of the product and customer portfolio delivered results. The real estate portfolio was reviewed and adapted accordingly. Operationally, productivity gains and better service quality led to a sustainable improvement of results.
With the opening of new distribution centres in Belgium, Germany and Luxembourg, the business unit focused on high-value growth in pharma & healthcare as well as e-commerce fulfilment. The combination of restructuring and growth generated an EBIT of CHF 198 million.