Air and sea freight rates help Dachser’s revenue soar in 2017

April 19, 2018: German-based Dachser has reported revenue of over EUR 6 billion for the first time in the financial year 2017.

The logistics provider increased its consolidated gross revenue by 7.2 percent to EUR 6.12 billion. It also set other company records by handling a total of 81.7 million shipments (+2.1 percent) weighing 39.8 million metric tonnes (+4.3 percent).

“We systematically pursued our successful export strategy for European overland transport and gained an additional tailwind from an invigorated global trade,” says Bernhard Simon, CEO, Dachser.

Simon mentions that its Air & Sea Logistics (ASL) business field benefitted from the rise in air and sea freight rates – especially in air freight —to push gross revenue up by 15.7 percent to EUR 1.79 billion.

“All three regional ASL business units saw double-digit percentage increases in revenue, with the Asia business achieving the largest revenue growth, of over 20 percent. The number of shipments the business field handled overall went up 6.7 percent, while TEUs and tonnage increased by 8.5 and 23.3 percent respectively,” informs the company.

“Air and sea freight is a volatile business with revenue as ever swinging between extremes,” says Simon. “We are, however, focused on ensuring sustainably profitable growth. So we are increasingly dovetailing our two business fields and are pushing forward with system integration.”

In 2017, its Road Logistics division—which comprises the transport and storage of industrial goods (European Logistics) and food (Food Logistics)—achieved gross revenue of EUR 4.44 billion (+3.1 percent).

The strong intra export business in Europe contributed to the growth. “Germany remains the backbone of our operation, but France is well on its way to becoming the second pacesetter for cross-border overland transport business. We’ve been systematically setting up this strategic logistics axis over the past few years,” Simon explains.

In the Food Logistics business line, growth was once again above average.

The company’s investment in network locations, fleets, technology, and IT systems increased by 5 percent to EUR 136 million in 2017.

Last year we vastly expanded our capacity in Germany, especially in the food business,” says Simon.

Dachser has announced that it has earmarked a further EUR 188 million for investment in 2018, this time focusing on industrial goods.