WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Swiss logistics firm Kuehne + Nagel Group (KHNGY) reported Thursday that its earnings for fiscal year 2019 rose 3.6 percent to 800 million Swiss francs from 772 million francs last year.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and impairment of property, plant and equipment, goodwill and other intangible assets or EBITDA for fiscal year 2019 surged 51.3 percent to 1.83 billion francs from 1.21 billion francs in the previous year.
Earnings before interest and tax or EBIT increased 7.5 percent to 1.06 billion francs from 987 million francs last year, exceeding the billion-CHF mark for the first time.
Net turnover for the year grew 1.5 percent to 21.09 billion francs from 20.77 billion francs in 2018.
Dr. Detlef Trefzger, CEO of Kuehne + Nagel, said: 'In a changing market, we continued to see our strategy yield success. In seafreight and overland, our focus on customer service, cost-effectiveness, operational systems, and digitalisation has once again paid off.'
The company said its board of directors will propose a dividend per share of 4.00 francs to the Annual General Meeting on May 5, 2020.
Looking ahead, the company said that despite the unknown scope of the coronavirus, its board is looking ahead with confidence to the 2020 business year and beyond. In the future, the company will focus particularly on growth in Asia.
Kuehne + Nagel also said that from 2020 onwards, it will offset all of its own CO2 emissions. The company plans to achieve this, in part, by investing in reforestation projects, which are certified to offset CO2 emissions.
In addition, all shipments by subcontractors in the Kuehne + Nagel network such as airlines, shipping lines, and haulage companies, will be CO2-neutralised by 2030.
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