Deutsche Post’s 3rd Quarter Profit Up 30%

German mail, express and logistics giant Deutsche Post World Net reported a net income of 537 million euros ($691 million) in the third quarter, up 30.3 percent compared to 412 million euros in the same period 2005.

Third quarter operating profit improved 40.1 percent to 1.03 billion euros ($1.3 billion), from 735 million euros last year. Revenue improved 35 percent to 14.9 billion euros ($19.2 billion), compared to 11 billion euros in the third quarter 2005.

“The integration of logistics service provider Exel and financial service provider BHW as well as organic growth drove this increase,” Deutsche Post said.

Deutsche Post’s enlarged logistics unit now operates under the DHL brand with two logistics brand areas: DHL Exel Supply Chain and DHL Global Forwarding.

Operating income at the logistics division rose 70.3 percent in the third quarter to 189 million euros ($243 million) with revenue up 100.6 percent to 6.1 billion euros ($7.85 billion).

“Business continues to develop well in terms of integration, performance and growth,” the company said of its logistics performance.

For the year to date, Deutsche Post posted net income of 1.27 billion euros ($1.63 billion), down 6.3 percent compared to 1.36 billion euros after nine months last year. Operating income was up 7.5 percent to 2.58 billion euros ($3.32 billion) while revenue jumped 35.9 percent to 44.2 billion euros ($56.9 billion).

Looking ahead, Deutsche Post said it expects operating income of at least 3.9 billion euros ($5 billion) on revenue of about 60 billion euros ($77.2 billion) for the full year 2006.

In 2005, the company posted operating profit of 3.8 billion euros ($4.9 billion) and revenue of 44.6 billion euros ($57.4 billion).