Panalpina improves first-quarter profit

The Swiss freight forwarding company, which is set to be acquired by DSV, reported a volume decrease in ocean forwarding.

   Swiss-based freight forwarder Panalpina reported on Wednesday a 16 percent first-quarter growth in consolidated profit to CHF 19.24 million ($19.1 million) and a 15 percent increase in EBIT to CHF 28.1 million ($28 million).
   “We improved profitability despite a challenging market environment and during a time when considerable management resources were absorbed by the M&A topic,” said CEO Stefan Karlen in a statement.
   Danish logistics company DSV agreed earlier this month to acquire Panalpina for 4.6 billion Swiss francs, which will make the combined company — DSV Panalpina — the fourth-largest freight forwarder.
   Panalpina reported a first-quarter net forwarding revenue year-over-year of nearly CHF 71 million to CHF 1.5 billion ($1.5 billion), but it reported a 3 percent gross profit reduction to CHF 358.1 million ($355 million). It also reported gross profit drops in both air and ocean freight and a 3 percent volume decrease in ocean freight volumes.
   Ocean freight gross profit per TEU also decreased by 2 percent to CHF 296 million ($293.4 million), which dropped the gross profit to CHF 102.9 million ($102 million) from CHF 108.9 in the first quarter of 2018. Still, ocean freight recorded an EBIT of CHF 300,000 ($297,339), an improvement over the CHF 5.8 million loss reported in the first quarter of 2018.
   Air freight volumes rose 8 percent, but gross profit per ton fell 10 percent to CHF 666 million ($660.1 million) and overall gross profit fell about CHF 4.7 million to CHF 173.1 million ($172 million).
   Panalpina’s logistics sector reported a 2 percent drop in gross profit to CHF 82.1 million ($81.4 million) and an approximate year-over-year EBIT decrease of CHF 500,000 to CHF 2.9 million ($2.9 million).
   “Since the news of DSV taking over Panalpina broke, circumstances have changed. To give any sort of outlook is not only more challenging than ever before, but also constrained by legal restrictions,” Karlen said. “However, Panalpina continues to conduct business as usual.”