DB Schenker bucks the trend on 2015 airfreight volumes

Deutsche Bahn (DB) has released its financial results for the 2015 fiscal year, and those that relate to freight forwarder DB Schenker’s air cargo business are positive. Airfreight volumes handled by Schenker were up 1.4% over the 2014 figure. That’s an impressive result when compared to how some of the other big forwarders’ air freight operations fared in 2014; Panalpina has recently confirmed that its year on year airfreight volumes were down in 2015, for example.
Last year also saw DB’s revenues rise above €40 billion for the first time in the company’s history. However, all was not well at group level. “A self-critical look shows us that we did not achieve the targets we set,” rued DB CEO Rüdiger Grube.
“At €1.76 billion, our earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) were down considerably year on year, due in part to the strikes we faced. We need to make far-reaching improvements, and that is why we launched a Group restructuring process… last year to raise quality in a noticeable way for our customers and thus return to a path of economic success.”