Kuehne + Nagel Earnings Decline Even as Sea Freight Volume Rises
Kuehne + Nagel Inc. reported third-quarter earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization fell 3.6% to $273 million, counter to analysts’ average estimate of a 6.4% increase to $267 million.
Freight rates have yet to recover since the global recession almost a decade ago reduced trade, holding back profit at trucking companies and railways and prompting consolidation of shipping companies burdened by debt.
Kuehne + Nagel's U.S. division ranks No. 13 on the Transport Topics Top 50 list of the largest logistics companies in North America.
Kuehne + Nagel’s sea freight unit posted a decline in third-quarter gross profit per container even as cargo volume rose, while tonnage gains at the airfreight division were almost triple the increase of the unit’s earnings per 100 kilograms, the Schindellegi, Switzerland-based company said in a statement Oct. 18.
“The company should be on track to match broadly our expectations” for cargo volume growth, but “the higher-than-expected margin pressure, especially in the sea freight business, puts the earnings forecast risk to the downside,” Chris Burger, an analyst at Baader Helvea, wrote in a report to clients.
