EU fine turns 3PL’s operating profit into loss

   The Swiss forwarding and logistics company Panalpina said it had a 40.4 million Swiss franc ($44.1 million) loss in the first quarter because of provisions for antitrust fines from Switzerland and European Union, compared to a 34.9 millon Swiss franc (CHF) profit in the first quarter of 2011.
   Panalpina has decided to appeal the European Commission’s decision to the European General Court. “We believe the amount is not justified, which is why we are going to appeal the decision,” said Panalpina Chief Executive Officer Monika Ribar, in a statement.
   Panalpina said it and major competitors were fined on March 28 by the EU Commission for antitrust violations over what it called “isolated air freight surcharges for certain European trade lanes during limited periods of time prior to 2008.”
   The company said net forwarding revenue was 1.54 billion CHF in the first quarter of 2011, compared to 1.65 billion CHF in the first quarter of 2011. It  said its ocean freight volumes reached a record high and were up 7 percent year-on-year, outperforming the market. Volumes in air freight were affected by a negative market and the profitability restoration program, and fell 8 percent year-on-year, Panalpina said.
   “While we did very well in ocean freight, gaining market share, we knew that the first quarter would be a difficult one for air freight, especially in comparison to last year’s exceptional first quarter,” Ribar said.
   “In anticipation of the difficult market environment and a challenging 2012 we already reacted last year and introduced cost containment measures. This led to a flat development of the operating expenses quarter-on-quarter,” she added.