Global logistics company Dachser navigated challenges in 2023 amidst weak demand and significant overcapacity in the logistics industry, resulting in a decline in Group revenue to approximately EUR 7.1 billion, down by 12.5% compared to the previous year, the company’s freshly published financial results show.
Transported volumes also decreased, with shipments falling by 4.6% to around 77.4 million and tonnage decreasing by 6.5% to some 40.0 million metric tons.
“Against the backdrop of an ailing global economy and a challenging market environment, supply chains were under considerably less strain in 2023, which allowed us to focus on improving productivity, capacity utilization, and quality. At the same time, we made considerable investments in the expansion of our networks,” says Burkhard Eling, CEO of Dachser.
Eling highlighted the strategic acquisitions and joint ventures undertaken by Dachser in 2023, including ventures in the Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Italy, South Africa, and Sweden. These investments aimed to strengthen Dachser ‘s global presence and enhance its service capabilities.
Despite economic forecasts suggesting low volumes and slight revenue growth in 2024, Dachser remains committed to its goal of becoming the world’s most integrated logistics provider, with plans to invest over EUR 500 million in 2024.
In terms of business development, Dachser ‘s Road Logistics division saw a modest increase in revenue to EUR 5.8 billion in 2023, driven by positive performance in European Logistics and Food Logistics. European Logistics maintained steady revenue, while Food Logistics recorded a notable increase due to acquisitions and positive business development in Germany. However, Air & Sea Logistics experienced a significant decline in revenue due to weak demand and oversupply in freight capacity, resulting in plummeting freight rates.
Furthermore, Dachser expanded its Contract Logistics division, investing in additional capacity and increasing the number of pallet spaces to nearly 400,000. The company now offers over 3 million pallet spaces across 164 warehouse locations worldwide. Looking to the future, Eling announced that DACHSER will focus even more on closely integrating the Road Logistics and Air & Sea business fields.
“In the coming years, significant growth impetus will come from markets outside Europe. To continue serving our customers worldwide with high quality and reliability, we are linking the processes and systems of our two business fields even more closely together to develop an integrated global, door-to-door groupage solution that we call ‘Global Groupage’.”