Lufthansa Cargo records €268 mn profit, €2.7 bn in revenue

Mar 19, 2019: Lufthansa Cargo, the Frankfurt-based cargo airline has declared over %u20AC2.7 billion in revenue and a profit of %u20AC268 million (adjusted EBIT). This is the second-best result in its history in 2018.

Year-on-year, revenue was up %u20AC189 million and profit %u20AC5 million. Compared to 2017, revenue was 7 percent higher, while the yield per transported tonne of air cargo was also up 7 percent. The volume of goods carried increased slightly by one percent overall. Cargo capacity offered rose 5.3 percent, which reduced the load factor slightly to 65.9 percent (-3.2 percentage points).

"Our employees have shown full commitment and done an amazing job for our customers. The result gives us additional momentum for new investments in the future," said Peter Gerber, CEO and chairman of the executive board of Lufthansa Cargo. "We managed to increase our revenue per unit and lower our unit costs last year. We will use the profit to modernise our means of production, which will further enhance our cost efficiency," added Martin Schmitt, board member for finance and human resources.

Lufthansa Cargo will press ahead with its fleet modernisation and will already sell the capacity of four brand-new B777 freighters this year. It also intends to gradually modernise the infrastructure at its logistics centre in its Frankfurt hub. "We will continue to systematically drive digitisation along the entire transport chain. We are the first cargo airline in the world to offer our customers completely paperless booking and handling for standard cargo. With our new, fully digital precheck process, we will now significantly accelerate and simplify handling processes for our customers. And we will also continue to roll out the electronic dangerous goods (eDGD) declaration so that even more customers and shippers will be able to benefit from this digital solution," said Gerber.

In terms of expectations, Gerber is essentially optimistic in his outlook: "The current year, unlike 2018, is again characterised by the weakness typical of the logistics market in the early months of the year. Given low global economic growth, this is currently being exacerbated by reports of Brexit and trade disputes. This means we will again face challenges in 2019, but we remain upbeat about the quarters ahead."