Net profits at Kuehne + Nagel grew by 4.3% in 2018, helped by airfreight volumes and EBIT growing at double digit rates.
Yearly net turnover was up from 18.6 billion Swiss francs (CHF) in 2017 to CHF 20.7 billion in 2018, with earnings for the year growing from CHF740 million in 2017 to CHF772 million in 2018.
The airfreight sector had a strong year with tonnage increasing by 11% to 1.7 million tonnes, with industry specific solutions for the pharma and healthcare and aviation industries playing an important role.
Kuehne + Nagel acquired Quick International Courier, a company specialising in time-critical transport and logistics services.
Due to strong volume growth, consistent cost control and productivity gains, EBIT grew by 13.4% to CHF355 million.
Dr Detlef Trefzger, CEO of Kuehne + Nagel International says 2018 was “another successful year” with net turnover, gross profit and EBIT increasing despite the market weakening at the end of the year.
He says: “By introducing additional digital platforms, with new highly specialised solutions and targeted acquisitions, we reached important milestones last year and will continue to pursue our journey.
“Even though the growth momentum of the global economy slowed down at the end of 2018, we confirm our goals for the year ahead. In 2019, we aim at growing twice as fast as the market and improving our results further, complemented with selected acquisitions to our portfolio.”
