Panalpina saw good growth in the third quarter as it posted an airfreight volumes surge of 10 per cent on the same quarter last year handling 228 million tonnes.
For the first nine months of 2016, demand is nine per cent up on the same time last year at 659 million tonnes. Overall airfreight gross profits were up by two per cent.
Panalpina puts this rise to the majority stake acquired last year in Airflo, the second largest airfreight forwarder in Kenya. The perishables business has contributed six per cent of its growth.
The Swiss freight forwarder has also seen overall revenues decline and net profits go up. Revenues fell 13.7 per cent in the third quarter compared to the same quarter in 2015 while net profits were up 2.7 per cent to 24.6 million Swiss Francs ($24.7 million).
Panalpina chief executive Stefan Karlen says: “Despite shrinking air and ocean freight markets and high margin pressure in the first nine months of the year we delivered an improved earnings before interest and tax and consolidated profit.”
He adds airfreight and ocean freight products developed contrarily, and while airfreight volumes increased nine per cent they decreased by the same amount in ocean freight.
