Kuehne + Nagel’s first half profit up 62%

Kuehne + Nagel’s first half profit up 62%    Kuehne + Nagel International AG, the Swiss forwarding and contract logistics provider, increased its first half 2006 net income 62.2 percent to CFR208.1 million ($167 million), from CFR128.3 million after the first six months 2005.
   Group operating income in the first half was CFR415.7 million ($333 million), up 60.2 percent compared to CFR259.5 million. Group revenue rose 35.6 percent in the first half to CFR8.7 billion ($7 billion) from CFR6.4 billion a year ago.
   Operating profit for Kuehne + Nagel’s main division, sea freight forwarding, increased 37.9 percent to CFR162.2 million ($130 million) from CFR117.6 million. The division’s revenue was up 16.9 percent to CFR4 billion ($3.2 billion) from CFR3.4 billion.
   The company’s air freight forwarding arm increased its operating income 16.5 percent to CFR77.6 million ($62 million), as revenue also rose 16.5 percent to CFR1.6 billion ($1.3 million).
   Kuehne + Nagel completed the purchase of large European third-party logistics provider ACR Logistics for 440 million euros ($555 million) in January. “The strong first-half performance is the result of the effective implementation of our strategy, sustained organic growth, and the efficient, successfully progressing integration of ACR Logistics,” said Klaus Herms, chief executive officer of Kuehne + Nagel.