DEUTSCHE POST REPORTS RISE IN REVENUE, PROFITS AT DANZAS

DEUTSCHE POST REPORTS RISE IN REVENUE, PROFITS AT DANZAS

   Deutsche Post World Net, the German postal service group turned global logistics service provider, reported continued increases in revenues and profits from its logistics activities for the first nine months of the year, despite the economic slowdown.

   Deutsche Post’s logistics division, which comprises mainly Danzas, saw revenue grow by 16 percent, to about 6.9 billion euro ($6.1 billion), and operating profit by 38 percent, to 116 million euro ($102 million).

   Deutsche Post said that 8.7 percent of the 16-percent increase in revenues came from organic growth. “The logistics business also benefited from the successful integration of Air Express International,” it added. The German group also cited “synergy effects resulting from the successful integration of companies in recent years.”

   Deutsche Post acquired Danzas, the distribution arm of Royal Nedlloyd Group and ASG in 1999, and took over Air Express International in 2000, thereby becoming the world’s largest air freight forwarder.

   For the first nine months this year, Deutsche Post reported a group revenue of 24.9 billion euro ($21.9 billion), up 4 percent on the corresponding period in 2000, and a group-wide operating profit of 1.9 billion euro ($1.7 billion), up by 6 percent. Most of the group’s profits have come from its postal business. Net profit was down by 1 percent, to about 1.3 billion ($1.1 billion), due to an increase in tax, the group said.

   Deutsche Post has maintained its forecast for an increase in operating profit of at least 5 percent for its full-year results this year