Deutsche Post confident as e-commerce keeps delivering

German logistics group Deutsche Post confirmed its annual forecast Tuesday, as it reported a solid second quarter lifted by income from e-commerce.

The Bonn-based group booked net profit of 602 million euros ($711 million) in the period from April to June, an increase of 11.3 percent year-on-year and in line with forecasts from analysts surveyed by Factset.

Operating, or underlying profit beat expectations, growing almost 12 percent to 841 million euros, a second-quarter record for the group.

Deutsche Post said its packages business benefited from continued growth in online shopping, and its international express delivery service also grew, both contributing to a 4.4-percent increase in revenue to 14.8 billion euros.

But traditional postal deliveries in its home market of Germany continued to shrink in volume.

And in the freight division, operating profits shrank slightly even as revenues increased.

"We are very satisfied with both the second quarter and the entire first half of the year. Our company is growing in all areas," chief executive Frank Appel said in a statement, adding that he was confident of reaching the group's annual forecast.

Deutsche Post aims to increase operating profit to 3.75 billion euros in 2017, part of a long-term objective to lift profits by eight percent each year between 2013 and 2020.

Source: AFP