DHL USA loses Deutsche Post $654 million

DHL USA loses Deutsche Post $654 million    German postal and logistics conglomerate Deutsche Post AG said Tuesday its DHL business unit in the United States posted an operating loss of euros 495 million ($653.7 million) in 2004.
   Deutsche Post said it expects DHL USA to post a deficit of euros 300 million ($391.3 million) for 2005, before reaching break-even by the end of 2006. Deutsche Post said it intends to invest $1.2 billion in the United States over the coming years.
   Following its takeover of Airborne in the U.S. market to challenge the dominance of FedEx and UPS, the German company is widely seen as having bought market share though an aggressive expansion policy in the American express market.
   Deutsche Post’s net income jumped 21 percent to about euros 1.59 billion ($2.1 billion), compared to euros 1.3 billion in 2003. Operating profit in 2004 rose 13 percent to 3.35 billion euros ($4.44 billion) with revenues rising 8 percent to euros 43.2 billion ($56.3 billion).
   Deutsche Post’s logistics and express divisions, operated by DHL, both saw double-digit revenue increases. Logistics revenue was up 15 percent to euros 6.8 billion ($8.8 billion), representing 15 percent of Deutsche Post’s total revenues. Revenue from the express division was up 16 percent to euros 17.8 billion ($23.2 billion), making up the largest share of Deutsche Post’s total revenues at 40 percent.
   Shares in Deutsche Post rose 3 percent at close Tuesday at euros 18.8 on Germany’s blue-chip DAX index.