Panalpina third quarter profit falls to US$4.92 million

THE Panalpina Group has announced that consolidated net profit in the third quarter of 2009 fell to CHF5 million (US$4.92 million), down from CHF28 million for the third quarter last year.

In the first nine months of the year, the group's net profit shrunk to CHF21 million, down from CHF105 million for the same period in 2008.

In the first three quarters gross profit declined by 18.5 per cent year-on-year to CHF1,065 million, after being "impacted during the third quarter by higher freight rates that could not be fully passed on to customers," a company statement said. Third quarter gross profit decreased to CHF338 million from CHF451 million earned last year.

Third quarter net forwarding revenue fell to CHF1,415 million, down from CHF2,372 million a year earlier. In the first nine months of the year, net forwarding revenue declined to CHF4,389 million against CHF6,719 million for the comparable period in 2008.

Air freight volumes grew 10 per cent and ocean freight volumes 13 per cent in the third quarter year on year. From January to September, air freight volumes were down by 25 per cent and ocean freight volumes fell 18 per cent year on year.

"While these numbers reflect weak development on many trade lanes, Panalpina has gained air freight market share on the transpacific trade lane and ocean freight market share on Asia-Europe," a company statement said.

Said Panalpina CEO Monika Ribar: "As the numbers in the nine-month comparison clearly show, the market environment remains extremely difficult. This is why we continue to intensify our sales efforts by optimising our customer mix and by expanding our offerings in global supply chain management. While there is no short-term solution for the current challenges, I am confident that these measures will pay off in due course."

Compared to the first nine months of 2008, free cash flow increased 39 per cent to CHF161 million. In terms of operating costs, Panalpina said it is "well on track" to achieve the previously announced full year CHF130 million cost reduction.

Source: www.schednet.com