BONN (dpa-AFX) - The sluggish economy and a normalization of the freight business weighed on Deutsche Post at the start of the year. Earnings fell after a record 2022 - but not as much as analysts had expected. The Group countered the downturn to some extent with cost cuts and price increases, as it announced in Bonn on Wednesday. Many business customers are continuing to reduce their high inventories. Although there are signs of stabilization, there has not yet been any recovery. The board of management confirmed its forecast, according to which Deutsche Post aims to achieve an operating profit (Ebit) of between six and seven billion euros this year.

In the first quarter, Deutsche Post's revenue fell by a good seven percent year-on-year to 20.9 billion euros. Operating profit even slumped by a quarter to a good 1.6 billion euros. The bottom line for shareholders was a profit of 911 million euros, a drop of around a third. Deutsche Post published its quarterly figures one day before the Annual General Meeting, after which Tobias Meyer is expected to take over as Group CEO from Frank Appel on Thursday. Appel has led Deutsche Post for 15 years.

The Post share price initially rose by almost three percent to 44.64 euros in the morning, reaching its highest level since the end of March 2022. However, the gains then crumbled, and most recently the stock was still up by just over half a percent. Alexander Irving of the U.S. analyst firm Bernstein Research praised the resilience of the Post and referred in comparison to the lowered annual forecast of the U.S. parcel service UPS just over a week ago.

The Post suffered a drop in earnings in as many as four of its five business units in the first three months of the year. Business in its home market of Germany was hit particularly hard, where the wage dispute with employee representatives proved costly for the Group. Among other things, the Group had to pay additional staff to compensate for strike losses.

The international freight business also suffered above-average losses, although not nearly as much as analysts had feared. Last year, high prices for sea and air containers used to transport goods due to strained supply chains had boosted the division's earnings. In parcel delivery outside Germany, the Group now had to shoulder higher costs and investments, with the result that profit in day-to-day business fell by more than a fifth.

In the lucrative business with time-critical shipments of the DHL Express division, however, the drop in profits was only comparatively small at seven percent. Only in supply chain logistics was the Group able to increase its operating profit. Here, Swiss Post benefited in the first quarter from sustained high demand for process automation./lew/stw/stk