DSV 3Q revenue up following closing of Panalpina deal, even as airfreight slips volumes  

Danish forwarder DSV, which closed the acquisition of Panalpina on Aug. 19, 2019, reported airfreight tonnage up 63% year-over-year in Q3. Excluding the Panalpina acquisition, organic airfreight growth was down 6%.

Even when accounting for the windfall in volumes from the Panalpina acquisition, the company’s Air & Sea forwarding division performed relatively well.

Revenue reported by the company’s Air & Sea forwarding division reached US$2.1 billion (DKK 13,981 million) including Panalpina revenues, but were up only a slight 1.4% when accounting for the acquisition. Gross profit was up 7.6% not including Panalpina’s contributions on yield improvement for airfreight, despite lower volumes. Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) for the division totaled $182 million, including organic growth of 13.1%.

For the first nine months of the year, DSV’s overall revenue rose to $9.6 billion, up 3.0% year-over-year adjusting for exchange rate fluctuations and Panalpina contributions. Gross profit, meanwhile, rose to $2.4 billion, up 6.2% in constant currency, and excluding Panalpina.

The company said its underlying gross profit per shipment for Air & Sea declined compared to the same period last year, however, as a result of Panalpina having a lower gross profit per unit. Operating margins for the division declined as well, also due to the Panalpina inclusion. Operating margins are expected to increase again following the completion of the integration, DSV said.

Jens Bjørn Andersen, CEO of DSV Group, also commented on the closing of DSV’s acquisition of Panalpina, saying the company had a good start to the integration and that the first operational integrations have already started