Deutsche Post DHL Group is raising its EBIT guidance for the year to around EUR 8.4 billion (US$8.71 billion) boosted by strong performance in its international business.
This is about 5% higher than the earlier expectation of EUR 8.0 billion.
"In response to the continuing positive business and earnings performance in the DHL divisions, the Group has raised its EBIT guidance for the current financial year to a record level of around EUR 8.4 billion," DHL said in a statement.
It said EBIT in the first nine months of 2022 increased to EUR 6.5 billion, from the EUR 5.8 billion recorded during the same period in 2021 as net income after non-controlling interests also increased to EUR 4.0 billion from EUR 3.6 billion year-on-year.
"Looking ahead to the final quarter, Deutsche Post DHL Group is well positioned despite continuing global economic uncertainties and prepares for a peak season with the typical seasonal development of shipment volumes in its B2C businesses," it said.
Mid-term outlook "stable"
DHL noted that the mid-term outlook for 2024 remains stable with an EBIT of around EUR 8.5 billion as the Group closely monitors the slowing global growth momentum and uses well-established levers.
It said international B2B business main driver for positive business performance in Q3 2022.
"Once again, the B2B business of DHL's Global Forwarding, Freight, Supply Chain and Express divisions was the driver behind the Group's strong revenue and EBIT growth," the logistics company said, adding that in Global Forwarding, Freight’s cargo business, revenue and EBIT again increased significantly due to ongoing high freight rates.
It noted that the capacity situation in air and ocean freight eased further, as demand declined noticeably and transport supply improved again.
"The continuing high demand for reliable solutions powering resilient supply chains and e-fulfilment gave Supply Chain's contract logistics business a good third quarter," it added, noting that the international time-definite express (TDI) business benefited from disciplined yield management with volumes declining slightly.
Normalization in B2C business almost done
DHL said as expected, shipment volumes in the B2C business settled at a structurally higher level compared to pre-pandemic levels.
Shipment volumes recorded a significant improvement in the third quarter of 2022, relative to the first half year.
For its Express business, DHL said EBIT of EUR 1.0 billion was recorded, up 4.2% versus the previous year.
Another significant jump in EBIT and revenue was recorded in its Global Forwarding, Freight division which closed the third quarter with EBIT growth of 57% to EUR 584 million driven by the continued high freight rates.
It noted that air freight volumes decreased year-on-year, but were at a comparable level seen in the second quarter of 2022. In ocean freight, transport volumes grew by 11.9%, due to the integration of the acquired beverage logistics company Hillebrand.
For its e-commerce solutions, DHL noted that the "positive revenue trend continues unabated."
It said e-commerce solutions achieved good results in the third quarter with EBIT remaining at the prior-year level of EUR 87 million compared to EUR 91 million during the same period in 2021.
Overall, parcel volumes were above the previous year's level by 0.3%.
In general, DHL continued to show "strong growth" in the third quarter of 2022.
Compared with the prior-year quarter, the Group increased its revenue by 20.0% to EUR 24.0 billion even in a weakening macroeconomic environment.
"The first three quarters of the year were the most successful in our company's history. EBIT remained above EUR 2.0 billion in all three quarters. Even if global growth is losing momentum, we are well on track to achieve the best result ever with an EBIT of around EUR 8.4 billion," said Frank Appel, CEO of Deutsche Post DHL Group.
"The foundation for our success is our global logistics business, which is extremely well balanced in terms of sectors and regions, powered by our dedicated workforce. This makes us a reliable partner for our customers all around the world – especially in these volatile times," Appel added.
