DHL Group Q12022 revenue up 20% on strong demand for global services

Deutsche Post DHL Group reported a 20 percent increase in revenue to €22.6 billion (nearly $24 billion) as Global Forwarding, Freight, Supply Chain and Express divisions benefited from solid development in global trade and stronger B2B business.

The Group also recorded an excellent opening quarter 2022 with operating profit (EBIT) of €2.2 billion compared to €1.9 billion in Q1 2021, according to an official statement.

Global Forwarding, Freight achieved the highest quarterly revenue of all the group's divisions for the first time with revenue increasing 55 percent to €7.4 billion ($7.8 billion). The division's EBIT almost tripled to €601 million ($637 million) as against €216 million ($229 million) in Q12021. This was mainly due to further intensifying price and margin dynamics in the international transport markets and slightly higher volumes in air and ocean freight, the statement said.

"The first quarter saw the expected normalisation in e-commerce," says Frank Appel, CEO, Deutsche Post DHL Group. "However, we were able to overcompensate that development with strong results in our global logistics activities. Once again, our portfolio – balanced by region and sector – proved to be a strong and resilient foundation for our success. Overall, we had a good start into the year and further increased our earnings. Following the outbreak of war, global trade has so far proven resilient, yet we are closely monitoring the increasing challenges to global economic development."

The group generated net profit after non-controlling interests of €1.4 billion ($1.5 billion) compared to €1.2 billion ($1.3 billion) in Q12021, an increase of 15 percent.

"Our strong and stable financial power allows us to invest heavily in our leading position and to strengthen our resilience," says CFO Melanie Kreis. "This enabled us to acquire Hillebrand in the first quarter of 2022 without having to raise outside capital while at the same time continuing to invest in the development of our core businesses. With capital expenditure of around €12 billion until 2024, we want to push forward sustainable investments to expand our transportation, warehousing and sorting capacities and support our customers with new, low-emission solutions to achieve their carbon reduction targets."

Outlook: short- and medium-term targets confirmed
The Group continues to expect EBIT of €8 billion (+/– 5 percent) in the current financial year. For 2024, the company continues to forecast an increase in EBIT to around €8.5 billion. The outlook for capex in 2022 remains at around €4.2 billion and for the period 2022 to 2024 at around €12 billion.