Deutsche Post CEO: ‘Impact of Ukraine war on transportation costs is unknown’

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Deutsche Post AG (ETR: DPW) stock is up over 10% on Wednesday after the world’s second-largest courier company reported an annualised growth in its Q4 net profit and announced a new share repurchase programme.

What Deutsche Post earnings report tells us

  • Net profit jumped to €1.48 billion ($1.61 billion) versus the year-ago figure of €1.30 billion.
  • At €23.38 billion, revenue in the fourth quarter noted a YoY increase of 22%.
  • Earnings before interest and taxes were up 13%, as per the earnings press release.
  • Reported record earnings for full fiscal 2021 on continued growth in all divisions.
  • Almost doubled its free cash flow to €4.1 billion in the recent quarter.
  • Proposed €1.80 a share in dividend (34% increase) and authorised up to €2.0 billion in stock buyback.

Deutsche Post CEO’s remarks on ‘Squawk Box Europe’

Deutsche Post forecasts €8.0 billion in EBIT this year, assuming eCommerce remains strong, but not accounting for the potential impact of the Ukraine war. On CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe”, CEO Frank Appel said:

There’s uncertainty related to Russian invasion of Ukraine at the moment. Its impact on GDP growth is unknown, what that means for transportation cost is unknown. But we’re confident that we’ll see some growth in GDP and logistics through the year. But if rising oil prices lead to lower GDP, our business will also be impacted.

Appel also indicated that Deutsche Post will ramp up investments in alternative fuels as the war in Ukraine continues to see oil prices at record levels. Last month, DHL bought 33 million litres of sustainable aviation fuel from Air France-KLM.

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Source: https://invezz.com/news/2022/03/09/deutsche-post-ceo-ukraine-war-impact-on-transportation-cost-is-unknown/