Deutsche Post DHL Group, considers itself to be well on track to achieving its short and medium-term earnings targets.
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At the Annual General Meeting in Frankfurt, CEO Frank Appel confirmed the forecast for this year, which envisages the company increasing consolidated operating profit to between EUR 3.4 and EUR 3.7 billion.
Following the year of transition that was 2015, in which Deutsche Post DHL Group laid the groundwork for long-term profitable growth across all divisions, the fruits of these labors are increasingly beginning to show.
The company has made further advances in extending its European parcel network and is now reaping the benefits of dynamic e-commerce growth to an even greater extent.
In the express business, the company is investing further in the renewal of its air fleet and the expansion of its global hubs; it is also further expanding its market position on the basis of its unparalleled global infrastructure.
Having experienced a challenging year, the Global Forwarding, Freight division again recorded a significant increase in profits; the turnaround within the business is showing signs of considerable progress. Moreover, the optimization program which is being further pursued this year is increasingly bearing fruits for the Supply Chain division.
In the first quarter of 2016, Group EBIT rose by more than a fifth (+21.3%) year-on-year to EUR 873 million.
This represents the strongest first quarter in the history of the company, and follows directly on from the record operating profit recorded in the final quarter of 2015. Each of the four company divisions contributed to the significant increase in the first quarter of 2016.
The Group's most important growth drivers remained intact as the year began. In particular the international and domestic parcel business continues to demonstrate rapid growth, driven by both dynamic e-commerce and the Express division's time-definite international delivery business (TDI).
Following the positive first quarter, Mr. Appel reiterated the company's financial objectives for full-year 2016. He emphasized that all divisions are on track.
The Post - eCommerce - Parcel (PeP) division is likely to contribute at least EUR 1.3 billion to the Group operating profit of EUR 3.4 billion to EUR 3.7 billion, with the DHL divisions Express, Global Forwarding, Freight and Supply Chain contributing a total of EUR 2.45 billion to EUR 2.75 billion. ■