Strong package volume gains drive first-quarter profit for UPS

UPS reported first-quarter 2018 net income up 15.4% y-o-y to $1.35 billion, as total revenue rose 7.2% to $10.28 billion. Operating profit for the quarter declined 6.0% to $1.52 billion, as the company’s US Domestic segment was hit by “headwinds from severe winter weather of $85 million, Saturday deployment, network projects, and higher pension expenses.” […]

• David Harris
• April 26, 2018

K+N flies high as first-quarter air freight volume surges

Switzerland-based forwarder and logistics services provider Kuehne + Nagel reported first-quarter 2018 net income up 11.5% y-o-y to US$191 million, as gross profit (what some forwarders call net revenue) rose 11.8% to $1.92 billion. Operating income (EBIT) for the quarter was up 12.9% to $245 million. All three of the company’s forwarding divisions (Airfreight, Seafreight, […]

• David Harris
• April 25, 2018

Expeditors flies high!

US-based forwarder and logistics services provider Expeditors International reported fourth-quarter net income up 51.2% y-o-y to $168 million, as net revenue increased 14.6% to $629 million. Operating income for the quarter was up 15.6% to $199 million. At first glance, the more than 50% increase in profit looks odd, but the quarter’s net income included […]

• David Harris
• February 21, 2018

Expeditors flies high in 3Q17

For what seemed like forever, US-based forwarder Expeditors reliably produced financial and operating results that were the envy of the industry. In fact, it is not much of a stretch to say that Expeditors’ margins would be the enviable in just about any industry. But last year, a bit of the shine came off. Despite […]

• David Harris
• November 9, 2017

A tale of two (Swiss) forwarders

Switzerland-based forwarding and logistics giants Kuehne+Nagel and Panalpina posted their third quarter results this week, and while the companies may be geographically close, their results are not close at all. Detailed third-quarter and year-to-date results for both K+N and Panalpina are shown in the charts at right, but here are a few comparisons from the […]

• David Harris
• October 19, 2017

Air freight success boosts K+N’s second quarter

Switzerland-based forwarder and logistics services provider Kuehne + Nagel reported second-quarter net income up 2.1%, as gross profit (what some forwarders call net revenue) rose 3.9% to US$1.81 billion. EBIT for the quarter was up 2.1% to $200 million. These low-single-digit financial numbers hide the fact that K+N’s Airfreight and Seafreight business units turned in […]

• David Harris
• July 18, 2017

Top 25 air freight forwarders of 2016 – It’s déjà vu all over again!

Armstrong & Associates has released its 2016 list of the world’s largest freight forwarders ranked by air freight tonnage, and the list has a very familiar look. The only new name in the top 25 for 2016 is Apex Logistics, and the only name missing from last year is UTi Worldwide – but UTi isn’t […]

• David Harris
• June 2, 2017

Express & e-commerce drive first-quarter growth at DP-DHL

Deutsche Post-DHL reported first-quarter net profit down slightly (0.9%) y-o-y to €633 million, as total revenue rose 7.3% to €14.88 billion. Operating profit (EBIT) for the quarter was up 1.4% to €885 million. As is often the case, the reported results tell only part of the story. In the first quarter of 2016, DP-DHL’s Supply […]

• David Harris
• May 11, 2017