Panalpina moves highest volumes in company history

Switzerland-based forwarder and logistics services provider Panalpina ended an eventful year, in which it made some notable acquisitions in the perishables sector, and reported record-breaking volume and profitability.

Air freight volume for the full year increased 8.1 percent to a record 995,900 tonnes. While it may be tempting to assume that the figure is evidence that company is making a comeback after a few years of underwhelming growth, it could also simply be a symptom of the upswing in airfreight demand being experienced across the industry – more evidence for the latter being DHL Global Forwarding’s identical growth of eight percent in air freight volume.

Still, operating earnings (EBIT) for Panalpina’s Air Freight division grew well into double digits for both the fourth quarter and the year (up 22.3 percent year-over-year for the quarter and 17.3 percent for the full year.)

Performance in the company’s Ocean Freight and Logistics divisions was not as spectacular, but overall Panalpina reported a solid year, with 2017 EBIT up 26.0 percent to CHF107.4 million (US$109.6 million) and net income up 9.9% to CHF59.8 million (US$61.0 million).