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Freight forwarder DB Schenker celebrated its 150th year in business by helping its parent, German transport giant Deutsche Bahn, post profit for the first time since Covid-19 began
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Schenker, the strongest performing unit in DB Group, saw total sales surge 35.8% y-o-y to €14.2 billion (about US$14.4 billion) in the first half of 2022 and a 91.3% jump in earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) to €1.2 billion
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Government-owned DB closed out the first half of 2022 with adjusted EBIT of €876 million. Group revenues increased 28.4% to roughly €28 billion
German freight forwarder DB Schenker has marked its 150th founding anniversary by helping its parent, transport giant Deutsche Bahn (DB), return to profit for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic began.
DB Schenker’s revenues and operating profits rose rapidly in the first half despite a 5.4% year-on-year drop in airfreight volumes to 673,300 tons and a 3.4% decline in ocean freight volumes to 966,200 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs).
The company, the strongest performing division in DB Group, reported a 35.8% year-on-year increase in total sales to €14.2 billion (roughly US$14.4 billion) in the first half and a 91.3% jump in earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) to €1.2 billion.
These improvements defied a generally challenging environment during the period, when the freight forwarder registering volume declines due to supply chain disruption, COVID-related restrictions in Asia, particularly in China, and Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Chief financial officer Dr. Levin Holle highlighted DB Schenker’s performance in addition to the strong upswing in DB’s core business.
“The first half of 2022 was Schenker’s most successful half-year in its 150-year history as a logistics company. DB Schenker played a major role in bolstering the DB’s favorable performance overall,” Holle said.
Government-owned DB closed out the first half of 2022 with adjusted earnings before interest and taxes of €876 million (roughly US$890 million), with DB Schenker making the largest contribution to DB’s current success by far.
Group revenues increased 28.4% to roughly €28 billion. Many more passengers used DB’s regional, local and long-distance services, the group said in a press release on July 29. Demand for international freight forwarding and logistics was also higher than ever before.
“Our turnaround has been successful,” said Dr. Richard Lutz, chief executive of DB at the group’s headquarters in Berlin. “Demand is booming and we have returned to profitable business.”
DB generated an operating profit on the back of revenues growing 28.4% to €28 billion.
Operating profit (EBITD adjusted) was up by around €1.9 billion compared with the first half of 2021. At that time, the global Covid-19 pandemic had driven DB into the red by nearly €1 billion. Altogether, its core business lost more than €10 billion due to COVID.
Earnings, revenues and volume in DB’s core business also rose considerably overall. In the first six months of the year, 59.1 million passengers used DB’s long-distance trains, up 117% y-o-y. Some 725 million passengers used DB’s regional and local trains, up 60%.
Holle cited the sharp rise in inflation, and “ballooning energy prices” in particular, as a major economic challenge.
DB said there is a great deal of uncertainty associated with the forecast for 2022 as a whole since the war in Ukraine and the Covid-19 pandemic remain unpredictable.
The group expects an adjusted EBIT of €1 billion for 2022 from forecast revenues of more than €54 billion.
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