Dachser Proves Internationalization Fuels Growth

With the successful integration of two Spanish acquisitions in the second half of the year, Dachser increased its gross revenue by 13.2 percent to 4.99 billion euro in the 2013 fiscal year. In fact, including investment income, the logistics provider exceeded its revenue milestone of five billion euro for the first time ever. Dachser also made additional inroads in regards to key growth indicators for employees, locations and shipments.

Some of the most notable key growth indicators for 2013 include the following:
•    13.2 percent increase in gross revenue to 4.99 billion euro
•    3,250 more employees when compared to 2012 with 24,900
•    471 locations in 42 countries (up from 37 countries in 2012)
•    Shipments up by 37.5 percent for a total of 69.6 million shipments
•    119 million euro invested in tangible assets 

At a press conference in Munich, Dachser CEO Bernhard Simon expressed his satisfaction with the integration and business progress seen by the two Spanish companies Dachser acquired in January 2013, Azkar and Transunion.

“Azkar consistently focused on international business and generated strong results, most notably in conjunction with our reinvigorated French country organization,” said Simon. “Transunion not only strengthened our sea freight business and the transatlantic routes, but also completed the integration in record time as the company has been doing business under the Dachser name since January of this year.”

Internationalization as the key driver of growth

While Food Logistics achieved an 8.2 percent increase in revenue on its own, European Logistics and Air & Sea Logistics grew primarily as the result of acquisitions. At the group level, Dachser achieved organic revenue growth of 2.3 percent. 

“For about two years now, we have only seen marginal growth in the major logistics markets such as Germany,” added Simon. “We believe that dynamic growth in the future will be driven by international cross-border freight services. This applies to the groupage business with industrial customers, contract logistics and food logistics, which have traditionally been set up on a regional, rather than national, basis. With the start-up of the European Food Network, consisting of twelve partners in 21 European countries, we have forged a pioneering alliance that has greatly resonated with our customers.”

This chart shows gross revenue across the past two years:
 

Since shipping volumes are not increasing as rapidly as they have in the past, Dachser’s investment in the physical logistics infrastructure in Europe may be somewhat reduced in the future, according to company officials. In 2013, 119 million euro were invested in tangible assets, primarily in new construction and expansion of branches such as in Langenau, Schönefeld, Northampton, and Lyss, Switzerland near Bern. 

“We are forecasting an adjusted investment volume of about one billion euro for the next five years,” said Simon.

Many new records achieved

Dachser set many new records in 2013. The number of employees reached 24,900 by the end of the year, up more than 3,000 from 2012, with 48 percent of the workforce employed outside of Germany. The number of shipments rose to 69.6 million (a 37.5 percent gain), in large part to Azkar’s strong market position in the industrial parcels business. The group’s tonnage, not counting TEU, increased to 32.9 million tons (a nine percent gain). Finally, Dachser has a network of 471 branches at its fingertips and is now represented in 42 countries around the world (five more than before).

Good prospects for 2014

Simon is optimistic and believes the mild winter coupled with the momentum from the fourth quarter of 2013 will make for a very successful 2014. 

“Sustainable growth based on expansion of international traffic and valuable contract logistics services outside of Europe is the focus for 2014,” explained Simon. “Last year, Dachser matured into a worldwide company. Our task now is to strengthen local management under the umbrella of the global organization as consistent proximity to our customers is essential to our future growth and success.”