DHL Group Profits Down 7% to US$6.3 Billion in 2024

Despite the challenging economic environment, the DHL Group achieved a revenue increase of 3.0% to US$91 billion in 2024. As expected, operating profit (EBIT) was 7.2% below the prior-year figure at US$6.3 billion.

DHL Group closed 2024 with significant revenue and earnings growth in the fourth quarter. Revenue increased 6.4% to US$25 billion in the fourth quarter; EBIT rose 12.9% to US$2 billion in the same period.

Tobias Meyer, CEO DHL Group said: “We increased our revenue in 2024 despite the challenging environment. In a strong fourth quarter with good service quality for our customers, we achieved substantial revenue and earnings growth.

"We expect the global political and economic situation to remain volatile in 2025. However, we want to continue growing in this environment and are focusing on the measures we can control.

"We are actively increasing our efficiency and accelerating our sustainable growth ambitions with our Group cost program ‘Fit for Growth’.”

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To support the company’s growth, the Management Board launched the Group program “Fit for Growth”. This program is part of the 2030 strategy, by which the company aims to become leaner and more efficient overall.

Through 'Fit for Growth', the Group aims to structurally improve its cost base by more than US$1.07 billion.

The Group-wide program includes various measures across all business units and will realize the full impact in the 2027 financial year. At Post & Parcel Germany, around 8,000 positions will be reduced in a socially responsible manner in 2025 as part of 'Fit for Growth'.

Melanie Kreis, CFO DHL Group said: “DHL Group is an attractive investment for shareholders. We underscore this with the dividend proposal and an extended, topped-up share buyback program.

"We have a strong balance sheet and high financial performance. We expect to return to earnings growth in 2025 and are actively supporting this process with our ‘Fit for Growth’ program and targeted investments in future growth markets.”

Further progress on the path to decarbonization

SAF accounted for around 3.5% of the aviation fuel used in DHL’s own aircraft fleet. This puts DHL Group in a leading position in logistics and aviation. In addition, more than 40% of the Group’s pick-up and delivery fleet consisted of electric vehicles in the reporting period.

In 2024, DHL Group had around 39,100 e-vehicles (2023: approx. 35,200) in use for pick-up and delivery. Employee satisfaction in the financial year of 2024 was 82%.

The proportion of women in middle and upper management rose by 1.2 percentage points to 28.4%. In terms of occupational safety, DHL Group reduced the accident rate per million working hours from 15.6 to 14.5.

In 2025, the company continues to anticipate a subdued macroeconomic environment.

Based on this assumption, DHL Group expects an operating result of greater than US$6.5 billion and a free cash flow (excluding M&A) of US$ ~3 billion for the fiscal year 2025.

This outlook does not cover potential impacts of changes in tariff or trade policies as such changes could have substantial negative but also positive effects for DHL Group.

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