With a volume increase of around 8% in the first nine months of the year, Kuehne + Nagel handled 230,000 TEU more year-on-year, with the strongest volume increases were realised in all US trades.

Kuehne + Nagel also achieved double-digit growth in the Latin America trades. The Group significantly improved its leading market position in the reefer container and LCL operations.

In the third quarter Kuehne + Nagel improved margins through further automation of internal processes, economies of scale and efficient cost management. The EBIT-to-gross profit margin (conversion rate) was at a high level of 29.2% and EBIT reached CHF308M

In airfreight Kuehne + Nagel increased volumes by 19%,(+180,000 tons), which it claims meant it grew more than twice as fast as the market. New business was won in the pharmaceutical, high-tech and automotive industries, while perishables logistics continued to develop very successfully.

Trillvane, the Kenyan perishables logistics company, was acquired in July 2017, and has been part of the Kuehne + Nagel Group since September 2017.

Despite seasonal market fluctuations the successful development of the overland business continued in the third quarter, says Kuehne + Nagel, with net turnover up by 5.2% year-on-year and gross profit by 4.6%. All regions, in particular Europe and North America, contributed to this improvement. The groupage and full truckload shipments as well as industry-specific services were the key drivers for growth.

In the first nine months of the year, Kuehne + Nagel won a significant amount of new business in its contract logistics activities, with business in Asia growing dynamically. The acquisition of two specialised pharma logistics companies in Italy and Turkey, which have now been integrated into the Kuehne + Nagel network, enables a further expansion in pharma logistics.

E-commerce also performed very strongly, says the company. Gross profit increased by 7.7%, the operational result improved by 14.2% and EBIT increased by 14.0% to CHF 114M

Dr. Detlef Trefzger, CEO of Kuehne + Nagel International AG: “With strong volume growth and active cost management we further improved results in the third quarter in line with our expectations. In seafreight a margin improvement was achieved in the third quarter.

"The airfreight, overland and contract logistics businesses contributed to significant profitability increases. The business development in the first nine months of 2017 confirms our strategic focus on value-creating solutions and makes us confident to reach our profitability targets we have set ourselves for the full business year.”