DHL Group posts profit fall and warns on demand

By Bartosz Dabrowski

(Reuters) -DHL Group warned of weak demand in the first half of this year after posting a 25% fall in 2023 profit on Wednesday, sending shares in the German logistics giant down more than 5%.

DHL said it does not expect a broad economic upturn in the first half of 2024 and even further declines in volume in some markets.

It expects positive global economic momentum in the second half of the year.

The company forecast 2024 earnings before income and tax (EBIT) of 6 billion to 6.6 billion euros ($6.5 billion to $7.2 billion) while analysts had expected 6.6 billion euros a company-provided consensus showed.

DHL Group shares were down 5.7% as of 1019 GMT.

"Still no change in volume trends seen," Stifel analysts wrote in a note to investors, adding that the wording on top-line trends was unchanged compared to DHL's third-quarter reporting, when the company narrowed its forecasts citing a slide in e-commerce demand post-COVID.

Logistics companies have been racing to match costs to global demand that has fallen to pre-pandemic levels, and the entire industry is fighting for market share.

It reported a 2023 EBIT of 6.3 billion euros, below analysts' expectations of 6.4 billion and down from 8.4 billion a year earlier.

The company said it would extend its share buyback programme until 2025 and increase it by 1 billion euros to a total of up to 4 billion euros.

DHL said it plans to propose a dividend of 1.85 euros per share.

($1 = 0.9213 euros)

(Reporting by Bartosz Dabrowski in Gdansk; editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Jason Neely)