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Kuehne + Nagel quarterly profit down 2.4pc, but revenues rise 7.2pc

THE world's biggest ocean forwarder, Swiss-based Kuehne + Nagel, suffered a 2.4 per cent year-on-year first quarter net profit decline to CHF164 million (US$164.3 million), drawn on revenues of CHF4.29 billion, which increased 7.2 per cent.

K+N's sea freight unit enjoyed rising volumes, up nine per cent to one million TEU, after gaining "significant market share on east-west routes.

Kuehne + Nagel's customer information system, KN Login, proved to be a success in winning new business, the company said.

The air freight division, combined with stronger market demand, resulted in volume growth of 15.5 per cent to 350,000 tons, driven by higher demand from the pharma, perishables and e-commerce sectors.

"Effective cost control and digitalisation of the internal processes helped to keep both the conversion rate with 29.9 per cent and the EBIT with CHF72 million at high levels," the release said.

The overland business continued to expand, with turnover up five per cent compared to Q1 2016. Higher volumes in the groupage, full truckload and intermodal businesses and the increased demand for industry-specific solutions, particularly for the pharma and the exhibition-event sectors, contributed to the positive development. EBIT rose by 75 per cent.

Net turnover from contract logistics rose 6.8 per cent, after new business wins in the fields of e-commerce and pharma. The acquisition of two specialised pharma logistics companies is also expected to spearhead additional growth.

Said CEO Detlef Trefzger: "Our strategic approach for overland and contract logistics led to a further improvement of results. We have established a good basis for the second half of 2017."