SCHENKER REPORTS FALL IN OPERATING PROFIT

SCHENKER REPORTS FALL IN OPERATING PROFIT    Schenker, the large forwarding group owned by German conglomerate Stinnes AG, saw its operating profit decrease by 26 percent in 1999, to 90 million euro ($93 million).
   Stinnes said that the fall was primarily due to high goodwill amortization and interest payments for the acquisition of the remaining shares in BTL, the Swedish trucking and forwarding company.
   Schenker had annual sales of about 5.2 billion euro ($5.4 billion) in 1999, down from 5.3 billion euro in 1998.
   The European land transportation, air and sea freight and logistics activities of Schenker form one of the three business units of the Stinnes group.
   Stinnes said that Schenker has largely completed the integration of BTL, to become “Europe’s largest land transportation network.” Schenker sold Wilson Group, the sea and air forwarding arm of BTL, last year, but it retained BTL’s land transport business.
   Dr. Wulf H. Bernotat, chief executive officer of Stinnes, said that e-commerce and the associated boom in Internet trade would provide “an enormous impetus for the logistics market.”
   “Logistics companies will move into the limelight. And Stinnes will then be one of the players in the top league,” he added.
   Schenker also recently announced a strategic alliance with the Japanese group Seino Transportation Co. Ltd. and set up a joint venture under the name of Schenker-Seino.