Deutsche Post Delivers Higher Profits

The semi-privatized German postal service said on Monday it was able to lift earnings in the first three months of 2005 and was confident of a positive turnaround for the entire year. Deutsche Post reported net profit of 455 million euros ($582 million) in the period from January to March, up two percent from the year-earlier period. While the mail delivery division, traditionally the group’s cash cow, sustained a decline of nearly 14 percent in operating profit, the express delivery unit DHL returned to profit, booked a profit of 37 million euros before interest and tax. “We’ve forecast annual operating profit of at least 3.6 billion euros and we have every expectation we will achieve that result,” said Chief Financial Officer Edgar Ernst. “Helping us reach this goal will be the high and stable revenue in the mail delivery business and the impact of operating improvements in the US,” he added.