Crash or upswing? DHL Group in front of the Annual General Meeting

Crash or upswing? DHL Group in front of the Annual General Meeting

The Deutsche Post DHL Group, a giant in the logistics industry, had challenges in the 2023 financial year. Despite the e-commerce boom during the Covid 19 pandemic, the company had to accept loss due to the weak global economy and trade route disorders. CEO Tobias Meyer is now facing the challenge of giving new impulses at the Annual General Meeting on Friday.

The financial year 2023 brought significant sales and profit declines for the DHL Group, which led to a significant drop in the share. In 2024, the share has already lost over 12 percent of value and noted just under 40 euros. In comparison, the course was still over 59 euros in the summer of 2021.

Despite the difficult situation, the company proposes a dividend of 1.85 euros per share, which corresponds to the level of the previous year. The distribution rate of 59 percent is just within the desired range of 40 to 60 percent. CFO Melanie Kreis emphasizes the group's dividend continuity and emphasizes that the financial strength of the DHL Group has been structurally improved.

A positive signal for shareholders is the programs for the share buyback, which are to be continued by 2025. This step also served to offer shares in the company's executives as part of the employee participation. Despite these measures, however, there are also protests in terms of dealing with employee rights that are discussed before the Annual General Meeting.

The forecast for the 2024 financial year shows a positive development, but with a delay. While the first half of the year will be shaped by a wall and shrinking market volume, relaxation is expected from summer. The management of DHL predicts an expected EBIT of 6 to 6.6 billion euros for 2024. It remains to be seen whether the company's measures and the forecast for the coming year will bring a trend reversal for the logistics giant.