Frank Appel, Deutsche Post DHL Group CEO, said the coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the importance of logistics – the backbone of the global economy.
Deutsche Post DHL Group recently held a virtual Annual General Meeting (AGM) and reported it is prepared for the post-pandemic period.
“We can be proud of how we've risen to the challenge so far,” said Appel. “The crisis shows how robust Deutsche Post DHL Group is.”
According to Appel, Deutsche Post DHL Group is making a fundamental contribution to overcoming the crisis. By transporting medicines, protective equipment and medical equipment around the world, and maintaining trade flows, the company has kept the world running.
“Without us, manufacturing would grind to a halt,” said Appel. “We supply people and businesses with important goods. Never before have our services been so urgently needed.”
Appel was correspondingly confident with regard to the group’s earnings guidance for the current year, issued in July, and the medium-term financial targets.
“We’ve managed to implement the right measures in many areas,” said Appel. “Deutsche Post DHL Group will emerge stronger from this crisis.”
Operating profit for 2020 is expected to reach between €3.5 billion and €3.8 billion. For 2022, the group expects EBIT of around €4.7 billion to more than €5.3 billion, depending on the course of the overall economic recovery.
Appel said the fact that Deutsche Post DHL Group is coming through the crisis so well is due to its robust business model, long-established corporate culture and clear strategic direction.
“'Strategy 2025', presented in fall 2019, has kept the group on track despite the uncertain environment,” he said Appel. “The strategy focuses on the right issues: globalisation, e-commerce, digitalisation and sustainability. These trends have become all the more relevant in this time of crisis, or are even accelerating rapidly due to the pandemic.”
In his address to shareholders, Appel indicated that he was very satisfied with the recently announced financial results for the first half of 2020. Despite the challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Appel reported that all five divisions were profitable and that Deutsche Post DHL Group continued to grow overall. The second quarter saw group revenue up by 3.1 per cent to €16.0 billion – driven in part by the boom in e-commerce. Operating profit rose by 18.6 per cent to €912 million.
(Image L-R: Frank Appel and Nikolaus von Bomhard.)