Frans Maas integration dampens DSV’s first half profit

Frans Maas integration dampens DSV’s first half profit    Danish logistics firm DSV A/S said that integration costs relating to its recent purchase of Dutch forwarding, trucking and logistics service group Frans Maas contributed to a 18.4 percent drop in its half-year net income to Danish Krone 275 million ($47.1 million), from DKr337 million in the same six-month period last year.
   The Brondby-based company paid 433 million euros ($553.5 million) for Frans Maas, who have a strong road network in Central, Eastern and Southern Europe, and whose results were attributed to DSV from April 1.
   DSV’s operating profit slumped 8.2 percent in the first six months of the year to DKr473 million ($81.1 million) but the Frans Maas purchase did boost its revenue in the period by 40.8 percent to DKr15 billion ($2.6 billion) from DKr10.7 billion. Revenue from its road division jumped 30.4 percent to DKr11.3 billion ($1.9 billion) while its air and sea unit posted improved sales of DKr3.6 billion ($617 million), and revenue from its solutions division gained 10.2 percent to DKr476 million ($81.6 million).
   The company maintained its full year revenue expectations of DKr32.5 billion ($5.6 billion).
   DSV operates under the names of DFDS Transport and now Frans Maas but is in the process of renaming all of its business units under the DSV brand —    DSV Road, DSV Air & Sea and DSV Solutions. DSV said it faced DKr250 million ($42.8 million) in restructuring costs, but raised its expected annual synergies after completing the integration in 2008 by DKr50 million ($8.6 million) to DKr450 million ($77.1 million).
   “DSV achieved highly satisfactory financial results for the period,” DSV said in a statement. “The integration process is comprehensive and complicated, but so far the various challenges have been met in a reasonable manner.”
   The company’s share price on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange closed Wednesday down 1.63 percent at DKr966 ($165.6).