FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - Weak figures and a disappointing outlook put further pressure on the shares of logistics company DHL Group on Wednesday. With a price loss of six percent to 39.18 euros, it not only brought up the rear of the DAX. It also extended its price loss from the previous day and fell to its lowest level since mid-November.

Most of the recovery gains since November are thus history again. At that time, the Group had lowered its targets for operating profit in 2023 and 2025 with the figures for the third quarter of 2023. In the conference call with analysts, however, the management had made encouraging comments about the final quarter. In addition, the lowered forecasts were attributed in particular to the merely somewhat delayed economic recovery. This triggered a recovery rally in DHL shares.

In the still young year 2024, however, DHL Group shares are currently down almost 13 percent. This makes DHL the worst-performing share in Germany's leading index after RWE and Bayer.

Even before the quarterly report, analyst Sumit Mehrotra from Societe Generale was critical on Tuesday and withdrew his buy recommendation. He had written that only a recovery in shipment volumes at the logistics group driven by the economy as a whole should provide DHL shares with new price drivers. This Wednesday, the DHL Group's figures and outlook underpinned Mehrotra's assessment of the development of shipment volumes.

Adjusted for special items, the logistics group's operating result was almost 12 percent below the company's average analyst estimates, criticized industry expert Samuel Bland from the US bank JPMorgan. The current business also appears to be weak. The lack of a recovery in shipment volumes in the business between companies is a particular burden.

Analyst Andy Chu from Deutsche Bank also pointed out that there are no signs of a recovery in the B2B sector and no signs that companies are replenishing their stocks, which would be good for transport volumes. However, he is also convinced that the share will not be revalued until this happens again. According to him, the figures presented were disappointing, especially as DHL had lowered its corporate targets in November and these were still well below average market expectations.

Despite all the disappointment about missed expectations, there were also some experts who found positive things about the day. For example, analyst Johannes Braun from the investment bank Stifel wrote with relief that DHL, as now officially announced, does not want to participate in the bidding competition for DB Schenker.

And his colleague Patrick Creuset from Goldman Sachs was positive about the cash allocation: "The most important plus point was the clear message on capital allocation," he wrote. The dividend will remain stable at EUR 1.85 per share and the buyback program will increase from EUR 3 billion between 2022 and 2024 to EUR 4 billion between 2022 and 2025. In addition, a clear message was communicated regarding mergers & acquisitions, namely that there is only a limited budget for complementary acquisitions./ck/mis/stw