Panalpina gains airfreight market share

PANALPINA continued to gain airfreight market share in in the first quarter of 2014, with a 6.3 per cent rise in volumes that outpaced the industry’s 4 per cent benchmark growth.
“We had a decent start into 2014,” says Panalpina chief executive Peter Ulber. “In the first three months of the year, air and ocean freight showed continued growth ahead of the market, and in Logistics we made progress in reducing the losses.”
The Switzerland-based global logistics group saw its air cargo volumes rise to 203,900 tonnes, a performance that compares well with the number one air cargo freight forwarder, Kuehne+Nagel.
K+N, also based in Switzerland, reported a 1.4 per cent increase in airfreight volumes to 285,000 tons in the first quarter 2014.
Panalpina’s gross profit per airfreight tonne decreased 1per cent to SFr754 versus like three month period 2013. Airfreight gross profit reached SFr153.7m, up from SFr146m in the comparable period.
The air cargo division achieved earnings before interest and tax of SFr26.0m, up from SFr22.2 m. 
Panalpina’s outlook for the airfreight market remains unchanged. The company expects to outperform a forecast global sector growth of between 2 per cent to 3 per cent in 2014.
In the airfreight market, where Panalpina is the fourth largest logistics player, the strategy is “to stabilise performance, grow volumes above market and to focus on profitable growth”.
In Panalpina’s group wide outlook for the year ahead, Ulber adds: “In the context of difficult market conditions, the results for the first quarter are very encouraging. Our systematic restructuring activities to turn around the company’s loss-making operations are ongoing and on track, but these activities will continue to influence the financial results in the short term.”