Although DSV\u2019s acquisition of UTi has yet to pay significant dividends, as net profit dropped 45.4 percent year-over-year, to US$49 million for the first quarter of 2016, the company\u2019s airfreight operations reported significant growth. Airfreight volumes for DSV soared 71 percent to 122,817 tonnes during the same period.
\nMuch of the airfreight volume growth (66 percent) was directly attributed to the company\u2019s acquisition of UTi, with the remainder coming from expansion of its existing operations. These expansions, \u00a0the forwarder added, \u201ccontinued the positive trend of above-market growth rates of 2015.\u201d
\nAs airfreight volumes increased, gross profit growth outpaced revenue expansion for the division. Gross profit jumped 73.1 percent, to $136 million, while revenues rose 50.2 percent to $490 million. For the company\u2019s combined forwarding operations, earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) rose 6.7 percent to $63 million.
\nThe company\u2019s overall profitability has taken a hit from restructuring costs related to the integration of UTi which began in January. DSV estimates associated costs will total $230 million, two-thirds of which will be incurred in 2016. One-off costs for the quarter were $57 million and are expected to drop to $31 million for each of the remaining quarters of 2016.
\nChief executive Jens Bj\u00f8rn Andersen said, \u201cAs anticipated, UTi contributed a loss in the first months of the year, but the existing DSV operations continued the positive development of 2015. All in all, we are very pleased to report a first quarter operating profit in line with last year.\u201d
\nSource: aircargoworld<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"