Kuehne + Nagel reports performance excellence across all business units

SWITZERLAND : Strong global demand for transport services has boosted the Kuehne + Nagel Group’s latest quarterly financial results.

All business units were reportedly able to exceed their prior-year results, in some cases significantly.

At approx. €18.7 billion, the group’s net turnover in the first nine months of 2021 was almost 50 per cent higher than in the same period last year and EBIT more than doubled to over €1.5 billion.

Dr Detlef Trefzger, CEO of Kuehne + Nagel International AG, said: “In the current situation with supply chains that are difficult to plan, our Kuehne+Nagel experts are working tirelessly to implement the best possible logistics solutions for our customers. We are on track and were again able to achieve an excellent business result in the third quarter. In the coming months, we do not expect any significant change in the constrained market situation.”

Of the business units, Road Logistics was again able to significantly increase shipment volume in Q3 2021.

Network capacity utilisation was high in Europe in particular; demand also remained strong in North America.

As a special service offering, demand was particularly strong for the digital solution for global customs clearance.

The unit’s net turnover for the first nine months of 2021 was approx. €2.5 billion and EBIT almost doubled to €69.7 million compared to the same period last year.

The digital booking platform for land freight, eTrucknow, again recorded strong growth. The service, which has so far been focused primarily on Asia, is currently being rolled out worldwide and is already available in over 20 countries.

In Q3 2021, Contract Logistics reported very high capacity utilisation, particularly in North America. High order intake was once again recorded in the e-commerce fulfilment and pharma sectors.

Due to the divestment of UK activities at the beginning of the year, net turnover of €3.1 billion in the first nine months of 2021 was below the prior-year period. EBIT improved to €105.9 million.

Contract Logistics during the reported quarter also acquired further customers for the warehousing of vaccines. For this purpose, an existing temperature-controlled distribution centre in Belgium is currently being expanded to a total of 25,000 square metres.

Sea Logistics managed container volumes that were slightly above the prior-year period (3.4 million TEU) amid challenging market conditions with congested ports, supply chains out of sync.

Air Logistics posted market share gains despite globally limited cargo capacities which required tailor-made customer solutions.