BERLIN (Reuters) -German logistics group Deutsche Post DHL raised its short and medium-term profit outlook on Wednesday and said it would pay another coronavirus bonus to staff, predicting that the ecommerce boom driven by the pandemic would continue.
Deutsche Post, one of the world’s largest logistics firms, expects operating profit to increase to more than 7 billion euros ($8.26 billion) in 2021, up from a previous forecast of 6.7 billion euros.
It also raised its forecast for operating profit in 2023, predicting it will reach more than 7.4 billion euros, up from an earlier prediction of more than 7 billion.
Preliminary second-quarter earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) more than doubled to 2.075 billion euros.
“The second quarter proved once again that global trade volume continues to recover and the ecommerce boom is sustainable – and we benefit strongly from both,” Chief Executive Frank Appel said in a statement.
Deutsche Post said it would pay another bonus of 300 euros to each of its 550,000 staff around the world, costing around 200 million euros, to be booked in the third quarter. The figure is included in its new earnings outlook.
The company also paid its employees a 300 euro bonus last year to reward their extra work during the pandemic.
Deutsche Post said shipments to consumers were ahead of last year in all its networks, while business-to-business traffic continued to gain momentum. It said it still faces capacity constraints in both air and ocean freight.
Shares in U.S. rival United Parcel Service Inc fell last month when the company forecast disappointing post-pandemic U.S. margins.
Deutsche Post is due to report full second-quarter results on Aug. 5.
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(Reporting by Riham Alkousaa, editing by Emma Thomasson and Barbara Lewis)
