The financial report of Waberer’s International in the first quarter of 2019 was not a big surprise for the industry: the Hungarian carrier closed the first quarter with a net loss of EUR 4.4 million. However, the CEO is optimistic and believes that the short-term transformations introduced lately will have a positive effect in the second quarter.
“We registered a loss in the first quarter of the year on Net income and EBIT, which reflects that the headwinds on the transportation and logistics market that we faced in 2018 have not disappeared. This was not a surprise, and the Brexit saga continues to increase the unpredictability in the market. At the same time, the company has started a serious transformation to address the changes that are ongoing for the first half of the
year.” – Robert Ziegler, CEO of Waberer’s International NYRT explained in the report.
According to the company, their short-term initiatives have been proceeding as planned: savings in direct and indirect spending are materialising, the fleet reduction and the „smart pricing” are yielding results in the profitability of their capacities.
The new management has now completed the planning of medium-term transformations. According to the company’s announcement, they will be able to respond more flexibly to customer needs, they work to make the planning process more intelligent, and they are also developing the IT system to react to market changes faster and more efficiently. Waberer’s has also changed its driver incentive schemes to improve service quality.
A loss of 4.4 million euros
In the first quarter of 2019, Waberer’s revenue grew by 2% to EUR 182 million. The company continued to reach higher prices but met with more unpredictable volume flows from a number of its key international clients, which had an unfavourable impact on truck capacity utilisation. In the Hungarian market, higher amounts were achieved primarily in warehousing and less-than-truckload transportation activities.
Gross profit decreased by 4% year-on-year to EUR 30 million in the first quarter of 2019, as margins remained under pressure due to a continuing increase in fuel and transit prices and domestic wages, partly offset by short-term measures.
The financial result marked a loss of EUR 0.9 million in the first quarter of 2019, while recurring net income showed a loss of EUR 4.4 million.
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