Damco is taking steps to simplify its business, increase efficiency and expand its office network from 350 to 600 over the next three years.
The operator, which is part of AP Moller Maersk, has just reported a rise in sales of six per cent to $773m in the first quarter, although EBIT was down to $9m from $13m the year before.
Supply chain management volume growth accelerated further in Q1 2013 with ten per cent growth versus the same period last year, mainly driven by the impact of new customers and a strong pre-Chinese New Year uptake in volumes.
Airfreight volumes were up 15 per cent over 2012, but ocean freight volumes were up only one per cent.
Rolf Habben-Jansen, chief executive officer, said the business had made significant investments to adjust its business model to make it more scalable and to enable further growth and profit improvement in the years to come.
“We will continue to make investments in the upcoming quarters, even if that will impact our reported results. This quarter we also completed the headquarters’ relocation, have made very good progress in rolling out our new Unity global IT platform and have successfully integrated the PacNet acquisition.”
In addition, said Habben-Jansen: “In 2013 we will be taking some important steps forward in simplifying our business and further raising the efficiency of our operations. We are also planning to invest in growing our geographical footprint as we would like to be there where our customers need us to be in the future, which will mean expanding our network from around 350 to 600 offices over the next three years.”
