Deutsche Post DHL Group once again grew profitably in the past financial year. With revenue of EUR 94.4 billion, the Group exceeded its record from previous year by 15.5 percent. The jump in revenue resulted entirely from the international business of the DHL divisions, despite the fact that global trade and e-commerce normalized in 2022 as expected with slowing momentum in the final quarter. Consequently, shipment volumes were slightly below the all-time high of 2021. Thanks to flexible structures, the Group was nevertheless able to continue utilizing its global networks efficiently throughout the year. The company also benefited from the increasing demand for resilient supply chains in contract logistics and, particularly in the first half of the year, from high freight rates in the forwarding business. Overall, Deutsche Post DHL Group achieved a new record with operating profit (EBIT) of EUR 8.4 billion (2021: EUR 8.0 billion). The key driver was the positive earnings development in the internationally operating DHL divisions, which generated EBIT of around EUR 7.6 billion (2021: EUR 6.6 billion). With EUR 1.3 billion, EBIT of Post & Parcel Germany declined by around EUR 500 million compared with the prior-year result. The Group-wide EBIT margin was 8.9 percent (2021: 9.8 percent).
“We have demonstrated resilience and innovation capability in a challenging environment. Our course and strategy remain well on track. Once again, our thanks go to our employees for their extraordinary commitment in a challenging year,” said Frank Appel, CEO of Deutsche Post DHL Group.
Last year, Deutsche Post DHL Group invested a record sum of EUR 4.1 billion (2021: EUR 3.9 billion) in its operating business as well as in digitalization and sustainability. The Group made progress in expanding its electric vehicles fleet, which grew by 7,000 to more than 29,000 e-vehicles worldwide. Further investments were made to modernize the Express division’s aircraft fleet and to build new CO2-neutral delivery bases in Germany. Investments were also made in sorting capacities and e-fulfillment solutions for the growing e-commerce business. There was an increase in efficiency due to investments in additional automation solutions.
“The slowing macroeconomic growth momentum is reflected in our EBIT outlook. That is why we are acting particularly prudent in the first half of 2023 and focusing on our yield and cost management,” said Chief Financial Officer Melanie Kreis.
In addition to the financial targets, Deutsche Post DHL Group pursues clear, measurable goals in the areas of the environment (Environmental), social affairs (Social) and responsible corporate governance (Governance) as part of its Strategy 2025. Absolute logistics-related emissions are targeted to fall to less than 29 million metric tons of CO2e by 2030 adhering to the Science Based Targets initiative. In 2022 those have developed better than assumed due to lower volumes and have fallen to 36.5 million metric tons CO2e (2021: 39.4 million metric tons CO2e).
