DHL loses € 70 million due to coronavirus incident



Due to the coronavirus, Deutsche Post DHL lost € 70 million in operating profit in February.


The courier, parcel and logistics giant said it had a good start in January this year and was ready for the normal impact around the Spring Festival.


However, since then, China's express and freight forwarding business has been particularly affected by the decline in cross-border trade flows to and from China.


At the same time, the closure of offices and factories during the Chinese New Year holidays has been extended in an attempt to control the epidemic.


Across the group, the negative impact of the coronavirus crisis on EBIT in February was about 60 to 70 million euros


Initial internal planning.


The company said that the impact on the group's full-year performance in 2020 “cannot be specifically assessed at this time”.


HLDHL said that if the macroeconomic situation normalizes again, it may also have a positive impact on logistics companies.


However, if the period is extended in the coming months or the current situation deteriorates, the negative impact on the group may exceed the positive impact.


The company's CEO Frank Appel said: Deutsche Post DHL Group performed very well in 2019 and successfully started 2020 in January this year.


Due to our broad geographic background and comprehensive investment portfolio, we are more flexible than other companies.


However, global crises like the coronavirus have not left us unaffected.


"It's hard to tell how much impact it has on our business."


Deutsche Post DHL Express Group has continued to achieve profitable growth in the past financial year.


The Group's revenue increased by 2.9% year-on-year to 63.3 billion euros, and all five divisions contributed positive results.


The group's earnings before interest and taxes increased by 30.6% year-on-year to reach 4.1 billion euros, while the previous year's earnings were affected one-time.


German Post and Parcel business contributed 1.2 billion euros in earnings: EBIT profit before delivery of 2 billion euros, freight and freight of 521 million euros, and a supply chain value of 912 million euros.


The e-commerce solutions division recorded a loss of 51 million euros.