DSV Panalpina saw its airfreight volumes decline in the first quarter of the year despite growth in the overall market.

The forwarder's air volumes for the period declined by 6.6% year on year to 336,307 tonnes, while the overall market is estimated to have grown by 5-7% as it bounced back from the start of the pandemic in the same period a year earlier.

DSV Panalpina said: “Compared to the market, DSV’s volume growth in Q1 2021 was impacted by discontinued Panalpina business following the integration.

“However, compared to the trend in 2020,we are now closing in on the market and we expect that we will be able to gain market share again during the course of Q2 2021.”

On the overall airfreight market, DSV said that the limited availability of belly space in passenger planes continued to impact the sector.

“Demand is generally strong, especially for Asia export, and the limited capacity is keeping rates up,” it said.

Earlier this week, Kuehne+Nagel recorded a 16% year-on-year increase in first-quarter airfreight volumes to 433,000 tonnes.

While DSV's airfreight volumes for the period declined, higher airfreight rates helped increase first-quarter air revenues by 36.2% to Dkk13bn, while gross profits for the period improved by 28.3% to Dkk2.8bn.

The overall company saw first quarter revenues increase by 23.1% year on year to Dkk33.6bn, earnings before interest and tax (ebit) before special items was up 95.8% to Dkk3.1bn and profit for the period increased to Dkk2.3bn from Dkk331m.

The company said that cross the group, ebit was positively impacted by the extraordinary market conditions – higher rates in air and ocean – and certain temporary cost savings, e.g. due to low travel activity.

DSV said that it should also be noted that earnings in the first quarter of 2020 were negatively impacted by the first effects of Covid-19.

Jens Bjørn Andersen, group chief executive, said: “The strong earnings growth in Q1 was driven by good performance in all business areas,and we benefit from cost discipline andthefull-year impact from Panalpina synergies.

“The markets in air and sea are characterised by strong demand and tight capacity,and it takes an extraordinary effort by our staff to find good solutions for our customers under these challenging market conditions.”

The company also today announced pans to acquire Agility Global Integrated Logistics (GIL), a move which would make it one of the top three forwarders.

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