Shares of Deutsche Post DHL edged higher on Wednesday after it said on Tuesday its quarterly operating profit (EBIT) rose 16% to around €890 million, beating average analyst forecasts of €811 million.

Adjusted for one-off effects in the previous year and in the current year, operating profit came in around 25% above the prior-year figure.

Deutsche Post DHL also provided guidance, saying it expects an operating profit between €3.5 billion and €3.8 billion in 2020.

As an appreciation for their efforts during the Covid-19 pandemic, Deutsche Post DHL Group has granted a special one-time bonus of €300 to its more than 500,000 employees worldwide.

Executives of the firm are excluded from the bonus. In total, the group will grant one-time bonus payments of around €200 million, which will be booked in the third quarter 2020.

Deutsche Post DHL Group CEO Frank Appel said: “We have navigated our company through this crisis very well so far.

“We owe this to our committed colleagues worldwide.

“Only through the tireless efforts of our teams have we managed to keep supply chains up and running and thus maintained the worldwide supply.

“Our fundamental strength and resilience as a group has paid off in recent months: with our broad portfolio of leading logistics services, we have the right business model to form the backbone of global trade.”

In light of the uncertainty on economic recovery over the next two years, the group updated its medium-term earnings outlook for 2022 as follows:

• In the favorable case of a rapid recovery of the global economy without broad setbacks in the pandemic development (‘V-shape’ recovery) the group expects EBIT of more than €5.3 billion.
• In case of a slower recovery, e.g. with at least local setbacks in the pandemic development, (‘U-shape’ recovery) the group expects EBIT of approx. €5.1 billion.
• In the least favorable case of a very slow development of the recovery, e.g. due to significant setbacks in the pandemic development (‘L-shape’ recovery) the group expects EBIT of approx. €4.7 billion.

The investment plans (capex) for the years 2020-2022 remain unchanged at between €8.5 billion and €9.5 billion.