Logistics Segment

The key financial figures for the Logistics segment include the vehicle logistics, project and contract logistics, consultancy activities and cruise logistics business divisions. The results from bulk cargo and fruit logistics have been included in earnings from associates, accounted for using the equity method, since 2014 and 2012 respectively. The performance of the various divisions within the segment varied widely once again in the 2015 financial year.

At € 65.1 million segment revenue in the 2015 financial year was on a par with the previous year. EBIT of € - 0.8 million was also nearly unchanged from the previous year despite including extraordinary write-downs in the field of project and contract logistics. The assumption of fixed assets by vehicle logistics from the Holding/Other division had an opposing effect. This intragroup transaction changed the cost structure within the vehicle logistics division with a correspondingly positive impact on segment EBIT. The inter-company profit resulting from the transaction was eliminated on consolidation at the level of the Port Logistics subgroup.

In the reporting period, earnings from associates were down on the previous year due in particular to a change in disclosed taxes. On the whole, however, revenue and the operating result of companies included in this subgroup rose in 2015 compared with the previous year.

The individual business divisions developed as follows:
after a modest first half of the year, higher container throughput saw volumes in the vehicle logistics division recover in the second half of 2015. At 1,523 thousand tonnes, handling (including packing) exceeded the prior-year level by 1.4 % (previous year: 1,502 thousand tonnes). However, the number of vehicles handled was 10.7 % down on the previous year at 170 thousand (previous year: 190 thousand). Revenue also fell short of the corresponding prior-year figure. Although EBIT rose year-on-year, comparability is limited by the effect described above.

The consultancy activities division completed a number of projects during the year. As a result, revenue and EBIT in 2015 were both up on the previous year.

The market environment for project and contract logistics remained very challenging in the reporting period. While revenue was up year-on-year in the first six months, it fell strongly in the second half of the year and fell just short of the prior-year figure for the year as a whole. There was a further deterioration in earnings, due in part to the extraordinary write-downs mentioned above.

In the cruise logistics division, the number of ship calls declined by 25.0 % year-on-year to 138 ships in 2015 (previous year: 184). Due to a delay in the delivery of a large ship, there was also a corresponding year-on-year decline in passenger numbers of 23.1 % to 456 thousand (previous year: 593 thousand passengers). Revenue and earnings were also down on the previous year.

Seaborne handling volumes in bulk cargo logistics surpassed the prior-year figure by 2.5 % at 14.7 million tonnes (previous year: 14.3 million tonnes), whereby an increase in coal handling more than offset a slight decline in ore handling. Revenue and the operating result also improved compared to the prior-year period.

Volumes in fruit logistics rose slightly to 550 thousand tonnes in 2015 (previous year: 545 thousand tonnes). Revenue and earnings exceeded the prior-year figures significantly.