K+N ups earnings in 2016

Kuehne + Nagel CEO Dr. Detlef Trefzger said the global third-party logistics provider increased market share in all business units in 2016.    Global third-party logistics provider Kuehne + Nagel (K+N) recorded earnings of 720 million Swiss francs (U.S. $713.4 million) for 2016, up 6 percent from a year prior, according to the company’s latest financial statements.
   K+N’s gross profits totaled CHF 6.55 billion for 2016, a 4.8 percent year-over-year increase.
   “In all business units, we gained market shares while further increasing overall profitability,” K+N CEO Dr. Detlef Trefzger said.
   K+N’s net turnover for 2016 stood at CHF 16.53 billion, falling 1.2 percent from 2015. “This was due to historically low rates in sea and airfreight as well as negative foreign currency effects,” the company said.
   In the Seafreight unit, the number of TEUs K+N handled exceeded the 4 million mark for the first time ever in 2016, with volumes increasing 6.1 percent year-over-year. However, K+N said it “was not able to fully avoid the effects of the ongoing shipping crisis, which became apparent in 2016 above all in terms of historically low freight rates and pressure on margins, as well as the weak development in the oil and gas industry.” Consequently, K+N’s earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) for the Seafreight unit fell 3.1 percent from 2015 to CHF 445 million.
   Meanwhile, K+N’s Airfreight unit increased tonnage 4.3 percent year-over-year in 2016. The unit’s EBIT rose 12.5 percent from 2015 to CHF 298 million.
   K+N’s Overland unit increased EBIT from CHF 7 million for 2015 to CHF 28 million for 2016.
   In addition, K+N’s Contract Logistics unit’s EBIT surged 23.5 percent year-over-year in 2016 to CHF 147 million.
   Based out of Switzerland, K+N has more than 70,000 employees at over 1,300 locations in more than 100 countries around the globe.