GLOBAL – Kuehne+Nagel achieved notable efficiency gains in the first half of 2024, with net turnover reaching CHF 11.6 billion.
The logistics giant’s EBIT was CHF 778 million, and earnings hit CHF 576 million. Despite facing challenges such as exchange rate effects and restructuring costs, the company’s results show resilience above pre-pandemic levels.
The conversion rate, reflecting EBIT relative to gross profit, stood at 18%, marking a significant improvement from the 13% recorded in early 2019. This performance indicates robust operational efficiency, surpassing pre-Covid benchmarks.
CEO Stefan Paul commented, “In the first half of 2024, we continued to focus consistently on the initiatives of our strategic Roadmap 2026. The recovery in demand for air freight had a positive impact, while renewed disruptions in the Red Sea added complexity to global supply chains. We are well positioned for anticipated higher demand in the second half of the year and expect to realize further efficiency gains.”
Kuehne+Nagel’s Sea Logistics unit generated CHF 4.1 billion in turnover with EBIT of CHF 397 million. The unit maintained a high conversion rate of 39%, handling 2.1 million standard containers (TEU) by the end of June 2024.
As part of its Roadmap 2026, the company has opened 34 new Customer Care Locations to enhance support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
The unit has also embraced sustainability by using biofuel for transporting relief goods on behalf of the Dutch IDA Foundation, reducing CO2 emissions by around 85% compared to fossil fuels.
Kuehne+Nagel’s Sea Logistics unit generated CHF 4.1 billion in turnover with EBIT of CHF 397 million. The unit maintained a high conversion rate of 39%, handling 2.1 million standard containers (TEU) by the end of June 2024.
As part of its Roadmap 2026, the company has opened 34 new Customer Care Locations to enhance support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
The unit has also embraced sustainability by using biofuel for transporting relief goods on behalf of the Dutch IDA Foundation, reducing CO2 emissions by around 85% compared to fossil fuels.
In Air Logistics, Kuehne+Nagel achieved CHF 3.4 billion in net turnover and an EBIT of CHF 210 million. The unit managed over 1.0 million tonnes of air freight in the first half of 2024, reflecting a 5% increase from the previous year.
Growth was particularly strong in sectors like Healthcare and Semiconductors. The conversion rate for Air Logistics was 26%. The demand for combined Sea-Air Logistics services grew as customers sought to shorten transit times due to disruptions in the Red Sea.
Global Schedule Reliability Trends
Meanwhile, according to the latest Global Liner Performance (GLP) report by Sea-Intelligence, global schedule reliability dropped to 54.4% in June 2024, a decrease of 1.2 percentage points from May.
Year-over-year, reliability fell by 9.8 percentage points, and average delays for late vessel arrivals increased to 5.19 days.
Hapag-Lloyd led the top 13 carriers with a 55.4% reliability rate, while ZIM was the least reliable at 44.4%. Notably, Yang Ming saw the highest month-on-month improvement in reliability, while MSC experienced the largest year-over-year decline.
Overall, Kuehne+Nagel’s strong performance amidst ongoing global challenges highlights its effective strategies and adaptability in a complex logistics environment.
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