Deutsche Post DHL has raised its full-year profit guidance, saying it is on track to produce record results.
The German logistics company said on Tuesday that it was now expecting to report earnings before interest and tax of €8.4bn in 2022, compared to previous guidance of €8bn.
“The first three quarters of the year were the most successful in our company’s history,” said Frank Appel, chief executive.
“Even if global growth is losing momentum, we are well on track to achieve the best result ever,” he added.
Deutsche Post DHL, which has one of the world’s largest fleets of dedicated freight aircraft, was among the logistics groups to profit from the squeeze in international shipping during the pandemic when thousands of passenger planes — which usually carry cargo in their bellies — were grounded.
Although pressure on international supply chains has somewhat eased, the company said cargo shipping has continued to drive profitability, as “revenue and [profits] again increased significantly due to ongoing high freight rates”.
Revenues in the company’s freight division were up nearly 40 per cent year on year to €7.9bn in the third quarter, making up just under a third of total.
Deutsche Post DHL said sales in the third quarter jumped to €24bn, 20 per cent ahead of the same period last year. Earnings before interest and tax were up 15 per cent to €2bn.
There were signs, however, of the post-pandemic boom abating. Chief financial officer Melanie Kreis said the company was facing slowing growth momentum worldwide and pointed to international freight markets that were slowly returning to normal.
Container congestion at ports had “decreased significantly” in the late summer, with “more capacity [ . . .] coming on to the market again”, which Kreis said was likely to spell “less dynamic growth” for Deutsche Post DHL.
The company’s share price, which has dropped by more than a third in the past year after a pandemic-fuelled boom, was down just under 2 per cent on Tuesday morning.
Online shopping and parcel shipments had also continued to rise in 2022, with these now settled at “a structurally higher level compared to pre-pandemic levels”.
The company said rising gas prices had only a “minor” impact on profitability for its global business but were felt more acutely at its post and parcel business in Germany, where profits declined slightly.
The rival of FedEx and UPS, which grew out of the privatisation of Germany’s mail service, employs almost 600,000 people in 220 countries.