Despite a year impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Rhenus Switzerland delivered an encouraging performance, generating revenue of CHF 410 million in 2020. This 20 percent increase in revenue compared with the previous year is due largely to the integration of the Interfracht activities into the Rhenus Alpina Group. “We are very pleased that we achieved this positive result despite the major challenges presented by the pandemic. We are well positioned and do our best every day to optimize our business. We firmly believe that, this year too, we can continue to grow and offer high-quality services,” says Andreas Stöckli, CEO of Rhenus Alpina.
As this current year will also be shaped by the measures to contain coronavirus, the challenges in the market environment remain. Nevertheless, the Company is looking optimistically to the near future, when Rhenus Alpina – with its broad portfolio of services – will further expand its offering while maintaining its strong customer focus and solution-driven approach.
Rhenus Alpina AG Claudia Bracher Wolfensberger Head of Public Relations Wiesendamm 4 CH-4019 Basel
Tel. +41 (0)61 639 34 02 |
The Rhenus Alpina Group currently employs 1,473 people in Switzerland. Together, they competently overcome the growing challenges presented by the market environment and constantly find new and creative solutions in the different business segments.
Rhenus Logistics
Rhenus Logistics achieved a positive result in 2020 thanks to its modern logistics solutions. In order fulfilment in particular, it increased productivity significantly on the back of investments in the further development of its operational software. Due to seasonal factors, capacity in use at the logistics centres fluctuated between 88 and 96 percent. Because of the measures taken worldwide to combat the spread of coronavirus and the associated lockdowns, the economic outlook is uncertain. The broad portfolio of products offered by Rhenus Logistics will remain the key to gaining attractive new business in this segment in 2021.
Air Cargo
The air cargo division made a good start to 2020. From March onwards, however, the coronavirus crisis had a clearly noticeable impact: the various measures introduced worldwide to combat the pandemic caused air freight volumes to drop by over 70 percent. At air freight logistics company Cargologic, the effects were also visible in logistics handling. Here, transshipment activities showed a fall of 15 percent in 2020, which is likewise reflected in the overall result. Thanks to a forward-looking crisis management system and the adoption of short-time working, however, it was possible to stabilize the situation within a short period of time, although at the end of 2020 transshipment activities were still down by 35 percent. During this exceptional year, Cargologic was nevertheless able to make an important contribution to the handling and importation of protective equipment and medical supplies. For example, over 600 million face masks were imported through Cargologic.
2021 will also present challenges for the air cargo division. The pandemic continues to shape the trend in aviation. “We are using the time to raise efficiency in the digitalization of our processes and modernize our infrastructure for the post-coronavirus normality. We are also hoping that the situation in the air segment will soon ease,” says Andreas Stöckli.
Port Logistics
The beginning of financial year 2020 saw a slight decline in the waste disposal, recycling and aluminium segments. These effects are attributable to the coronavirus pandemic. The same goes for agricultural imports, where there was a shift in procurement channels in the course of 2020.
Conversely, the completion of the work to renovate a Rhenus Port Logistics AG warehouse facility had a positive impact, as did the commissioning of a new dredger, which led to a strong improvement in efficiency.
In the second half of the year, Rhenus Port Logistics AG recorded a general upturn. The intention in the current year is therefore to further expand and optimize the waste disposal and recycling division with the aid of new infrastructure. A further decline is expected in the agricultural imports segment, as procurement channels remain in flux. Another focal point in 2021 will be planning the future shared use of harbour basin 2 with Contargo.
Intermodal
Helped by its recognized high-quality inland waterway and rail connections to and from the Benelux countries and German sea ports, Contargo recorded relatively strong business volumes – even though this segment was also impacted by the pandemic. Despite these challenges, Contargo AG’s business model continued to stand the test. The positive volumes were driven in part by highly stable water levels in the Rhine and an increase in new business, which led to a gain in market share. Compared with the previous year, Contargo AG was able to lift earnings slightly.
In order to remain competitive, Contargo will this year focus on implementing digitalization measures and delivering the related improvements in efficiency.
About Rhenus
The Rhenus Group is one of the leading global logistics service providers, with annual revenue of EUR 5.5 billion. Rhenus has 33,000 employees based at 750 locations. Throughout the supply chain, the Rhenus Group provides solutions for a wide range of industries, including multimodal transportation, storage, customs clearance and innovative added-value services.