Kuehne+Nagel’s airfreight profits fell sharply in the third quarter of the year, despite increased turnover.
The Swiss-based forwarding group reported a 20% increase in its net air logistics turnover in the third quarter of 2024 in its latest results. Turnover was up from CHF1,512 million in the third quarter of 2023 to CHF1,812 million in 2024.
For the first nine months of 2024, airfreight turnover was up 4%, to CHF5,204m, compared with CHF5,028m for the same period of 2023.
However, EBIT (earnings before interest and tax) for the third quarter of 2024 were down 23% at CHF330m compared with CHF429m in Q3 2023. For the first nine months of 2024, EBIT was down 12% to CHF120m, compared with CHF136m in the first nine months of 2023.
Airfreight tonnage was up 6% in the first nine months of the year, at 1.5 million tonnes. Most of the growth was in the perishable goods segment, the company said.
For the group as a whole, including its sea and road logistics activity, turnover was static in the first nine months of 2024, at CHF18,041m compared with CHF18,159m in 2023, while EBIT was down 25% to CHF653m compared with CHF875m in the previous quarter.
However, the third quarter figures were a significant improvement on 2023, with turnover up 19% to CHF6,487m and EBIT up 9% to CHF256m compared with Q3 2023.
The company said demand for flexible logistics services had increased due to supply chain disruptions.
Chief executive Stefan Paul, commented: “The highly flexible logistics solutions of Kuehne+Nagel have once again proven to be a clear advantage for our customers in the face of increasing supply chain disruptions worldwide. This is also reflected in our positive business development.”
He added: “The strategic streamlining of the company by removing the regional structure is beginning to bear fruit. We have also reached an important milestone in our strategy with the seamless migration to the Cloud of our Sea and Air Logistics transport management system.”
