DSV revenue down 37.8% in Q2

Danish freight forwarder DSV saw second-quarter revenue decline 37.8% year over year to 37.7 billion Danish krone ($5.6 billion). Its revenue for the first half of 2023 was $11.7 billion, down 35.4% YoY. WHY IT MATTERS: Facing decreased revenue and airfreight volumes, DSV cut nearly 2,000 white-collar employees , approximately 6%, from its Air & Sea division, company executives said during today’s earnings call. “We have initiated some cost-savings programs ,” Chief Financial Officer Michael Ebbe said in the call. “It’s important to say that we keep an eye on the cost base every month, every week.” THE BIG PICTURE: Like many companies in the airfreight and logistics industries, DSV’s Q2 and H1 earnings show a significant decline, resulting from decreased demand for air cargo and over capacity . BY THE NUMBERS: DSV saw profit and tonnage declines, reporting: EBIT for Q2 was $697.1 million, down 34.8% YoY; EBIT for H1 was $1.4 billion, down 31.6% YoY; Gross profit for air in Q2 was down 26.8% YoY and in H1 was down 23.8% YoY; and Airfreight volume in Q2 was 316,000 tonnes, down 21% YoY. WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: Despite decreased revenue and tonnage, executives said they are pleased with Q2 results. “It exceeds our expectations a little bit,” Chief Executive Jens Bjorn Andersen said in the call. “We actually do believe that we have seen pretty good, solid financial performance across all business areas in a market which is still soft and characterized by low volumes.” STATE OF PLAY: The pandemic caused airfreight tonnage and revenue to shoot up and, in general, what goes up, must come down. “What is good to see is that the freight markets have largely normalized after all the commotion we saw the last couple of years with all the significant supply chain disruptions experienced,” Andersen said. “We are underperforming the market, particularly in airfreight. It has led to further reinforcement of our commercial efforts.” FLASHBACK: DSV is coming off a strong 2022 performance, which landed it at No. 3 on Air Cargo Next ’s Power 25 list of the top freight forwarders for the year. In 2022, DSV saw a 3% increase in air tonnage and 1.55 million tonnes of airfreight flown. It had a 20.3% increase in total revenue last year, hitting $34.8 million compared with $28.9 million in 2021. MARKET REACTION: DSV ( NASDAQ: DSDVY ) stock slipped following the company’s earnings call. The carrier ended the day at $105.20 per share, a 3.09% drop from market open. DSV announced a share buyback initiative in April. “As of today, or this morning, we have acquired 5.7 million shares back here in 2023, average price of 1,275 DKK (about $189), and we have around 2.7% of all shares of the share capital,” Ebbe said in today’s call. “This will then mean, if we take the initiated share buyback this morning into consideration, we have committed currently to allocate 13, nearly 14 billion DKK back to the shareholders.” FUTURE LOOK: DSV anticipates market improvement in the second half of 2023. “Clearly in the updated outlook, we have assumed recovery in the global trade — so, no significant worsening of the current economic environment in the second half year of 2023,” Ebbe said. “In terms of the normalization that we are talking so much about, we expect that to continue.” Join Air Cargo Next for the second annual Air Cargo Tech Summit on Monday, Sept. 18, and Tuesday, Sept. 19, at the Brussels Marriott Hotel Grand Place in Belgium. For more information on the summit and to register, click here .

DSV revenue down 37.8% in Q2

Forwarder reduced Air & Sea workforce by 6%

Kuehne+Nagel maintains positive outlook as volumes slide

Ex-CargoLogicAir 747-400F finds new home

Related Posts

Challenge Group launches engine dolly at LGG

New de minimis executive action targets Chinese retailers

CVC willing to bump DB Schenker bid after losing to DSV

Ex-CargoLogicAir 747-400F finds new home

Cargo Facts Free Newsletters

Cargo Facts Connect Podcast

Follow Us

Welcome Back!

Retrieve your password