Kuehne + Nagel ups profits, revenues in Q3 2017

The Swiss-based third-party logistics provider saw earnings and net turnover increase year-over-year for the third quarter and for the first nine months of 2017.    Kuehne + Nagel recorded earnings of 184 million Swiss francs (U.S. $188.7 million) for the third quarter of 2017, up 4 percent from the third quarter of 2016, according to the company’s latest financial statements.
   The Swiss-based third-party logistics provider’s net turnover for the third quarter of 2017 totaled CHF 4.7 billion, surging 14.9 percent year-over-year.
   Meanwhile, for the first nine months of 2017, Kuehne + Nagel posted earnings of CHF 540 million and a net turnover of CHF 13.5 billion, up 1.3 percent and 10.4 percent year-over-year, respectively.
   Broken down by segment for the first nine months of the year, the sea freight segment saw volumes float up about 8 percent from the corresponding 2016 period. Kuehne + Nagel’s strongest volumes increases were realized in all U.S. trades, and the company also achieved double-digit growth in the Latin America trades.
   However, the sea freight segment’s earnings before interest and taxes stood at CHF 308 million for the first nine months of 2017, sinking 9.4 percent year-over-year.
   The airfreight segment’s volumes for the first nine months of the year surged 19 percent from the same period in 2016, growing more than twice as fast as the market. Kuehne + Nagel gained new business in the pharmaceutical, high-tech and automotive industries, and perishables logistics continued to develop “very successfully,” the company said.
   EBIT in the airfreight segment totaled CHF 227 million for the first nine months of 2017, rising 3.2 percent year-over-year.
   In addition, the overland segment’s EBIT reached CHF 36 million, up from CHF 18 million for the first nine months of 2016, while the contract logistics segment’s EBIT totaled CHF 114 million, up 14 percent from the first nine months of last year.