November 9 - Deutsche Post DHL Group has reported a significantly increased profit for the third quarter, "despite a weak economic tailwind" according to ceo Frank Appel.
Group EBIT increased to EUR755 million (USD836 million) representing the strongest third quarter in the company's history.
The sharp increase on last year's Q3 EBIT of EUR197 million (USD218 million) was the result of "sustained organic growth in operating profit in all divisions in addition to the non-recurrence of substantial one-time effects", the company said in an official statement.
The DHL divisions reported a combined, strong increase in EBIT to EUR536 million (USD593 million), compared with EUR127 million (USD140 million) in 2015. The Global Forwarding, Freight division contributed in particular to the increase with an improvement from EUR -337 million (USD373 million) to EUR63 million (USD69 million).
However, revenue in the logistics provider's Global Forwarding, Freight division declined by 6.3 percent year-on-year in the first nine months of 2016 to EUR3.4 billion (USD3.7 billion), which DHL attributed to negative currency effects, lower fuel surcharges and the low level of air and ocean freight rates.
The company's interim report indicated that the performance of its industrial projects business in the first nine months of 2016 was affected in part by the conclusion of projects started in previous years and low oil prices reducing demand for new projects, especially in the oil and energy sector.
The share of DHL's Global Forwarding revenue related to its industrial projects business was 21.1 percent during the reporting period.
