Panalpina has ended 2017 with record volumes and profitability for airfreight, with the whole company seeing growth in revenue and profits.
Airfreight volumes increased eight per cent from 921,400 tonnes in 2016 to 995,900 tonnes in 2017, the highest in the company’s history.
Gross profit per tonne was down one per cent to 642 Swiss francs (CHF) but airfreight profit measured in earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) increased from CHF 80.8 million to CHF 110.3 million.
The EBIT-to-gross-profit margin came in at 17.3 per cent compared to 13.6 per cent in 2016.
Panalpina chief executive officer, Stefan Karlen says: “2017 ended with record high volumes and profitability in Air Freight. We secured extra capacity early on in the year, well ahead of the exceptionally strong peak season when global capacity became scarce. Consequently, we were able to serve our customers in a very challenging market where others failed.”
For the whole company, net forwarding revenue grew from CHF 5.2 billion to CHF 5.5 billion and consolidated profit increased from CHF 52.3 million to CHF 57.5 million.
