In 2012, Dachser increased group revenue to EUR 4.41 billion, which is 3.7 percent higher than 2011 (EUR 4.254 billion). The company handled 49.8 million shipments weighing a total of 37.5 million tons. By the end of the fiscal year, the number of company-owned branch offices worldwide rose to 347, including 21,650 staff members worldwide.
For 2013, Dachser anticipates continued growth with the acquisitions of the Spanish logistics providers Azkar and Transunion. Including revenues from these acquisitions and expected organic growth, Dachser aims to surpass the 5-billion-euro revenue threshold for the first time in the current fiscal year.
Increased capital investment
With capital investment totaling EUR 148 million, Dachser continued to strengthen its logistics network last year and thus laid the foundation for further growth.
"Many of our customers experienced 2012 as an economically extremely unstable year. The economic slowdown in Europe in the second half of the year was exacerbated by a weakening on the air freight routes to and from Asia," summarizes Bernhard Simon, head of the Dachser management board. "Against this background we succeeded in consolidating the organic growth of the previous years and maintained our stable position on the market. As a family enterprise that takes a long-term approach to planning, we adopted a counter-cyclical approach in 2012 and increased our capital investment by around 10 percent."
Revenues of the Dachser business fields
Dachser's largest business field, European Logistics, contributed to the group's revenue in 2012 with EUR 2.661 billion (previous year EUR 2.625 billion) closing the fiscal year with a slight growth of 1.4 percent. Dachser Food Logistics raised its revenues by 13.2 percent to EUR 573 million (from EUR 506 million in 2011) and once again proved to be a stabilizing factor independent of the economic fluctuations. The Dachser Air & Sea Logistics business field generated EUR 1.305 billion, realizing a growth in revenues of 7.4 percent. With Malaysia and Vietnam, the Air & Sea Logistics business field added two new Asian locations to the Dachser network.
Outlook 2013
Dachser plans to continue to invest substantially in the expansion of its European and intercontinental network in the 2013 financial year. "In particular our Iberian acquisitions Azkar and Transunion are currently providing new momentum and growth stimuli," Bernhard Simon explains. The air and sea freight forwarder Transunion extends the network with additional locations in Turkey, Argentina and Peru. Boosted by the organic growth anticipated in 2013, as well as the consolidated revenues of Azkar and Transunion, Dachser hopes to exceed revenue of five billion euros for the first time in 2013.
"The integration of Azkar and Transunion is making rapid progress. The motivation of the local teams to become a value-enhancing part of Dachser is extremely high," Bernhard Simon is keen to point out. "Hence we have kicked off the new year with a healthy new sense of dynamism and enthusiasm."
