Ad hoc: Deutsche Post AG continues to exceed expectations also in Q2 2021 and raises guidance for 2021 accordingly
07/07/2021
Disclosure of inside information pursuant to Article 17 MAR
Management has today assessed the preliminary group results for the month of June and hence Q2 2021 as well as the outlook for the remainder of the year.
The positive development of the group's businesses seen in the beginning of the year has continued well through the second quarter 2021. Volume trends persisted with B2C shipment volumes remaining on high levels and ahead of last year in all networks while the recovery in the B2B businesses continued. At the same time the tight capacity situation both in Ocean and Air Freight markets continued. For Q2 2021 the EBIT performance is forming out as follows:
Preliminary group EBIT reached around EUR 2.075 billion in Q2 2021 (Q2 2020: EUR 912 million), bringing the EBIT of the first half of this year to around EUR 3.985 billion. In the beginning of last year, the company had quantified the initial impact of the pandemic, this practice was not maintained thereafter. As a reminder, Q2 2020 came including EUR -99 million of asset impairments; in this year's Q2 there is a positive effect of around EUR +40 million in Group Functions in the context of the group's minority stake in Global-e.
The divisional results in Q2 in detail:
EBIT in the Express division reached around EUR 1.170 billion in the second quarter of 2021 compared to previous year's Q2 of EUR 565 million.
EBIT in Global Forwarding, Freight stood at around EUR 315 million in Q2 2021, also clearly ahead of previous year's Q2 of EUR 190 million.
EBIT at Supply Chain came in at around EUR 195 million in Q2 2021. It was at EUR 33 million in Q2 2020 in the initial stage of the pandemic.
Also, eCommerce Solutions recorded Q2 2021 EBIT of around EUR 115 million, significantly above last year's Q2 result which stood at EUR 1 million.
Finally, EBIT in Post & Parcel Germany in Q2 2021 was around EUR 315 million (Q2 2020: EUR 264 million).
Group Functions recorded a result of around EUR -35 million in Q2 2021 including the aforementioned Global-e effect; last year's Q2 reached EUR -141 million.
The continued positive business development is underpinned by a continued equally strong development of cash flow; free cash flow in Q2 2021 amounted to more than EUR 800 million. In Q2 2020 this figure was at EUR 605 million. For the first half of 2021 Free Cash Flow now stands at more than EUR 2 billion.
In light of the ongoing earnings momentum in Q2 2021, management has raised guidance as follows:
Group EBIT for 2021 is now expected to be more than EUR 7.0 billion (so far: more than EUR 6.7 billion). This already reflects today's board decision to pay a further one-time corona bonus of EUR 300,-- to each of the approx. 550,000 employees (FTE) in appreciation for the tireless efforts under the pandemic situation. This payment will be booked in Q3 2021 with an impact of around EUR 200 million and - like last year - will be split into around EUR 50 million for Post & Parcel Germany and around EUR 150 million for the DHL divisions.
On a sub-group level, the result for the DHL divisions is now seen between EUR 5.7 billion and EUR 5.8 billion (so far: more than EUR 5.4 billion). EBIT for the Post & Parcel Germany division is now expected at between EUR 1.7 billion and EUR 1.8 billion (so far: around EUR 1.7 billion). The expectation of a Group Functions EBIT of around EUR -0.4 billion is unchanged.
Full year 2021 Free Cash Flow is now expected to be more than EUR 3.2 billion (so far: above EUR 3.0 billion). 2021 group capex (for owned assets) is expected to reach around EUR 3.9 billion. The full year 2021 tax rate is now expected to be around 28%.
Midterm guidance for group EBIT 2023 is now expected to be more than EUR 7.4 billion (so far: more than EUR 7.0 billion). The aggregated 2021-2023 guidance for group capex (owned assets) and FCF for the period 2021 to 2023 was left unchanged at around EUR 11 billion and around EUR 9 billion, respectively.
The comprehensive disclosure for Q2/H1 2021 will be released on August 5th as planned.
Financial indicators:
Explanations on these financial indicators are available in the 2020 Deutsche Post DHL Group Annual Report (see page 25f) which is published on the company's website at the link below: