Kuehne + Nagel upbeat despite "unknown scope" of Coronavirus

Kuehne + Nagel continued to improve on its results in 2019 and said it was looking ahead with confidence, despite the “unknown scope” of the Coronavirus.

The global 3PL increased net turnover in the 2019 business year by 1.5% to 21.1bn CHF, with gross profit up 3.5% to 8bn CHF (£6.4bn).

Profits were up across its main divisions, with overland gross profit increasing by 3% to 1.1bn CHF (£884.2m) and turnover rising by 1.7% to 3.6bn CHF (£2.9bn).

Net turnover in its contract logistics division was up 2.8% to 5.4bn CHF (£4.3bn) and gross profit increased by 1.7% to 4bn CHF (£3.2bn).

Read more

• Kuehne + Nagel Drinks Logistics fined £825,000 after worker run over by forklift truck
• Kuehne + Nagel shrugs off HMRC investigation into £17m corporation tax saving from network fee charges
• Kuehne + Nagel joins Development and Climate Alliance as part of net-zero pledge

The company put this down to restructuring of the product and its customer portfolio, as well as a focus on high-value growth in pharma, healthcare and e-fulfilment commerce.

Dr. Joerg Wolle, K+N chairman of the board of directors, said: “For the sixth time in a row, Kuehne + Nagel has considerably improved its results.

“With the current state of the global economy, that is anything but a given.

“Setting aside the unknown scope of the coronavirus, the board of directors is looking ahead with confidence to the 2020 business year and beyond.

“In the future, we will be focusing particularly on growth in Asia.”