Postal and logistics behemoth Deutsche Post DHL continued to boost revenues and earnings in the first quarter of 2014, and confirmed its full-year outlook for the year.
The company’s net profit rose slightly during the first quarter of the year to hit EUR502 million (US$688.4 million), while revenues touched nearly EUR13.6 billion, up more than 1 percent over the previous year’s level.
In the first quarter of 2014, consolidated EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) also increased by more than 2 percent to EUR726 million.
“We performed well in the first quarter,” said group CEO Frank Appel. “Despite negative exchange-rate effects and the continued sluggish global economy, we once again generated profitable growth. We got off to a good start in 2014, in line with our expectations and market circumstances.”
For the full year 2014, the group expects only a slight improvement in the global economic environment, but believes that its positive earnings trend will continue, estimating group EBIT to rise to between EUR2.9 billion and EUR3.1 billion.
Deutsche Post DHL also expects its earnings to continue to grow beyond the current year. For the period 2013-2020, earnings growth is pegged at more than 8 percent per year on average. The 2015 EBIT target of between EUR3.35 billion and EUR 3.55 billion remains unchanged.
The DHL divisions are expected to continue to be the main contributor to the group’s revenue and profitability, with an annual average EBIT growth of about 10 percent per year from 2013 to 2020.
