Dachser reports 5% revenue growth for air, sea business; road falls 2%

April 14, 2021: The global logistics service provider Dachser's consolidated net revenue in 2020 totaled EUR 5.61 billion, a slight decrease of 0.9 percent compared to the previous year while the air & sea logistics business saw growth of 5.2 percent in contrast to the decline of 2.2 percent in the road logistics business.

Burkhard Eling, chief executive officer, Dachser, said, "We have delivered on our promise to be a rock of stability during the coronavirus crisis."

The business benefited from having air freight charter capacity of its own as well as from high freight rates for intercontinental transport. At the group level, the number of shipments dropped by 2.5 percent to 78.6 million, while tonnage fell by 2.9 percent to 39.8 million metric tonnes.

Net revenue

Revenue at the air & sea logistics business benefited from the shortages in air and sea freight capacity, and the corresponding rise in freight rates, throughout 2020. Buoyed by its activities in Asia, the business field upped its revenue by 5.2 percent to a total of EUR 1.2 billion.

"We responded swiftly to the bottlenecks in air freight capacity by chartering aircraft to expand our own capacity, initially for medical supplies, later also transporting other goods for our customers. Overall, we operated around 150 charter flights between Europe, Asia, and the US during 2020," Eling said.

Eling emphasizes that Dachser refused to let the coronavirus crisis dictate its actions. This applies both to the generational change on the executive board—prepared in 2020 and finalized on January 1, 2021—and to investment planning.

"Last year, we invested EUR 142.6 million in our global logistics network. This year, we are earmarking some EUR 190 million to create additional contract logistics capacity and forge ahead with digitalizing processes and business models. The newly created IT & development executive unit headed by chief development officer Stefan Hohm will figure prominently in this regard.”

"Our goal is to preserve the company's strengths while enhancing its agility. In other words, we are expediting the integration of our networks and the introduction of digital technologies for use in areas such as machine learning or swap body localization. We will also be stepping up our sustainability and climate protection efforts," Eling said.

"Over the next two years, we intend to start by expanding our DACHSER emission-free delivery areas to at least eleven European cities, while deploying more battery-electric trucks and electrically assisted cargo bikes. As a member of the German Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association, we are actively supporting the research and testing of hydrogen fuel-cell drives for trucks," he added.