Dachser reaps benefits of long-term strategy in 2015

In its year-end report for 2015, Dachser’s Air and Sea Logistics division said it generated revenue growth of 8 percent and contributed a total of €1.6billion to its consolidated revenue for the year. Most of the growth, the company said, came from investments in enhancing efficiency rather than acquisition.

“Last year we didn’t significantly expand our network geographically,” explained Dachser’s CEO Bernhard Simon. “Instead, we are focusing on standardized processes, integrated IT systems and close connections with the European overland network. We want to offer our customers global logistics solutions for distribution and procurement from a single source, what we call Dachser Interlocking.”

Privately owned Dachser Intelligent Logistics, based in Germany, does not publish detailed financial statements, but the company did report that it achieved “strong, organic growth for the fiscal year 2015,” with consolidated revenues up by6.5 percent over 2014, reaching €5.64 billion. Shipments also rose by 4 percent to 78.1 million, while total tonnage grew by 5.2 percent to 37.3 million tonnes.

“We reaped the rewards of our long-term investment policy and growth strategies,” the company said in a statement. “European exports remain our growth engine, in addition to solutions that intelligently combine overland, air and sea freight.”

In other business divisions, Dachser European Logistics – part of the company’s Road Logistics segment, comprising 72 percent of its revenue – continued to see growth from exports, generating €3.43 billion from transporting and storing industrial goods in 2015, which is a 5.5 percent increase over the previous year. Shipments and tonnage rose 3.8 percent and 4.2 percent, respectively, especially in Germany and France.

Spain also played a major role in the company’s growth. Dachser also saw growth in its North Central Europe and Iberia business units, partially by reorienting its Spain-based Azkar logistics unit, acquired in 2013, to full European operations. “We were able to gain the confidence of major customers and also invest in new markets,” Simon said. “In the past year, we upgraded 48 Iberian branches for the transport of hazardous materials, and in so doing, gained access to the Spanish chemical industry, which is both robust and export-oriented.”

The Dachser Food and Logistics segment also saw significant growth in revenues or 8.1 percent in 2015, to €741 million. The main drivers for this increase came from a surge in consumer goods spending in Germany, as well as improved cross-border food shipments via Dachser’s European Food Network, covering 29 countries. Last year, the company opened a new network office In Erlensee, near Frankfurt, that will serve as a central hub for food transports in Europe, Simon added.

He also announced greater investments for the current year. “Having invested €81 million last year, we will be investing around €125 million in 2016,” Simon said. “Some of this money will go toward information technology and technical equipment. But as in previous years, the lion’s share will be put into our European Road Logistics network where we will be building or expanding logistics facilities in Austria, France, Germany and Poland.”