Freight forwarder Kuehne+Nagel enjoyed record air-based revenues in 2022, reporting a 7.6% increase on the year before to CHF 11.7bn (US$ 12.4bn).
The 20.7% earnings jump in air cargo contributed to the overall net profit of around CHF 2.8bn, a 30% increase on 2021, after the company's sea freight revenue came to CHF 18.8bn, with road just short of CHF 4bn and contract logistics around CHF 1bn more.
Airborne volumes were up by just 0.5%, however, and the price rises did not not last through the year with revenue for its air freight business falling by almost 40% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of the year (Q4 2022) and volume down 16%.
“Demand for cargo capacity remained high on most trade routes,” Kuehne + Nagel said, reporting a 20% annual revenue increase across its entire business, which along with air cargo takes in contract logistics as well as road and sea freight.
Shares jumped 7% after the results were announced, with the company saying it "expect[s] the positive growth and earnings trend that has continued for many years to continue this year, albeit excluding the exceptional business volumes and results in financial years 2021 and 2022, which were the result of a corona-related special economic situation.".
But it warned that "the macroeconomic environment will remain challenging in 2023 due to geopolitical developments and inflation".