KUEHNE & NAGEL PROFITS UP 24% IN JANUARY-SEPTEMBER

KUEHNE & NAGEL PROFITS UP 24% IN JANUARY-SEPTEMBER    The consolidated net profits of the Swiss Kuehne & Nagel group for the first three quarters of 2000 rose 24 percent to 87 million Swiss francs ($51 million) compared with the same period last year.
   The company’s board is predicting full year profits in excess of SFr110 million ($64 million)
   Group revenue for the first nine months increased by 25.5 percent to SFr5.9 billion ($3.4 billion) compared with SFr4.7 billion ($2.7 billion) for the first nine months a year earlier. Group operating profit grew by 30 percent to SFr142 million ($83 million) over the same period.
   The company pointed out that in two key growth sectors, the ocean and airfreight business fields, operating results grew 27 percent and 36 percent respectively between the two nine-month periods.
   Kuehne & Nagel introduced a new group structure on July 1. Worldwide it now has 13,393 employees, up 7 percent since last year.