Despite challenging market conditions, the first half of 2011 signaled good news for Damco’s airfreight business, with year-over-year volumes increasing 11 percent. Company officials expect these numbers to improve even more, however, with Damco’s partial procurement of China’s New Times Transportation.
Damco acquired a majority stake in the Asian logistics company in August, which will bolster airfreight operations significantly, company executives project. Representatives for the global freight forwarder are also optimistic about the fact that Damco’s mid-year air cargo numbers are well above the average market growth rate of 2 percent to 4 percent.
“Our results are encouraging, especially considering the ongoing slowdown of global freight markets,” Damco CEO Rolf Habben-Jansen in a statement. “Our bottom line remains solid, and year-on-year, we have improved our sales of new business in the first half of 2011 by 37 percent. We are winning more and more large customers and securing strategically important wins within our key target industry verticals.”
Although Habben-Jansen acknowledges that the market remains challenging, he has his eyes set on growth. Damco is continuing to invest in IT solutions to enhance customer service and will develop new resources to improve supply-chain operations, he said.
It’s all part of Habben-Jansen’s plan to build on the success experienced in the first half of 2011. And Damco’s airfreight sector wasn’t the only one experiencing growth.
Damco’s seafreight volumes also saw improvement in the first half of the year, surging 11 percent from 2011. EBIT was another area of growth for the global freight forwarder, with revenues before restructuring costs climbing 14 percent to $37 million. Damco attributes much of this recovery to higher unit margins and stronger freight volumes.
