Panalpina’s profits up nearly 35 percent

The freight forwarder and third-party logistics provider increased year-over-year consolidated profits and revenues in Q1 with airfreight volumes inching up amid lower ocean freight volumes.    Panalpina, an international freight forwarder and third-party logistics provider headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, reported consolidated profits of 16.6 million Swiss francs (U.S. $17.2 million) for the first quarter of 2018, a 34.5 percent uptick from last year’s first quarter.
   Net forwarding revenues jumped 10.7 percent year-over-year to CHF 1.41 billion.
   Despite ocean freight volumes slipping 4 percent year-over-year during the quarter, which Panalpina mainly attributed to the result of a discontinued high-volume contract, airfreight volumes inched up 3 percent.
   Looking ahead, Panalpina CEO Stefan Karlen said, “Global airfreight demand continues to be healthy and the carriers have begun to increase rates substantially. We will have to be very disciplined in passing these rate increases on as we head for a summer season that could be busier than usual again. In ocean freight, our immediate focus is clearly on improving profitability. In logistics, we have made important investments that put us in a good position for top-line growth during the rest of the year.”