BLG LOGISTICS Reports Solid Business Year 2019 at 140th General Shareholders Meeting

• Sales increased by 1.5 percent
• Emissions reduced by 29.6 percent
• Ulrike Riedel new Labor Relations Director

„Overall, we more than achieved our goal of maintaining a constant level of sales revenue in all three divisions AUTOMOBILE, CONTRACT, and CONTAINER.“ This was the conclusion of the CEO of BLG, Frank Dreeke, in his report on the 2019 business year to the 140th general shareholders meeting of BREMER LAGERHAUS-GESELLSCHAFT -Aktiengesellschaft von 1877. It was the first virtual general shareholders meeting of BLG LOGISTICS. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the meeting was held without the physical presence of the shareholders.

Sales increased by 1.5%

Sales of BLG LOGISTICS totaling EUR 1.159 billion in business year 2019 were up on the previous year by 1.5 percent. At EUR 37.5 million, earnings before tax (EBT) remain at the previous year's level. The EBT margin of 3.2 percent in the reporting year was only slightly below that of 2018.

AUTOMOBILE was the strongest division in terms of sales, generating sales of EUR 603.7 million in 2019. Sales revenue grew significantly compared to the previous year by EUR 50.6 million, or 9.1 percent. Furthermore, EBT increased by EUR 15.5 million to EUR 19.3 million. That is an increase of 24.4 percent. The EBT margin increased to 3.2 percent.

Sales revenue in the CONTRACT division amounted to EUR 563.9 million. Compared to the previous year, EBT increased by EUR 178 thousand to EUR 7.4 million. Similarly, the company succeeded in increasing the EBT margin by 8.3 percent to 1.3 percent. 

Sales revenue in the CONTAINER division amounted to EUR 282.3 million, corresponding with the 50-percent share of BLG LOGISTICS in EUROGATE. This represents a decrease of minus 6.5 percent (EUR 19.7 million). Earnings by the CONTAINER division, at EUR 23.7 million, were below the previous year's level of EUR 37.4 million.

Overall, the sales growth in the AUTOMOBILE division more than made up for the slight declines in the CONTRACT and CONTAINER divisions. 

Emissions reduced by 29.6 percent

The company remains committed to strategically important goals such as its sustainability policy and digitalization drive. In 2019, BLG LOGISTICS already achieved the climate protection goal it had set itself for 2020. At the same time, BLG LOGISTICS also reduced sales-based emissions by 29.6 percent instead of the planned 20 percent. 

The company aims to be climate neutral by 2030. This involves cutting 30 percent of absolute CO2 emissions in the company. The measures designed to achieve this goal are energy efficiency improvements, own electricity generation, and the purchase of green electricity.

Ulrike Riedel new Labor Relations Director

On July 1, 2020, Ulrike Riedel will join the Board of Management of BLG LOGISTICS as the Labor Relations Director. She introduced herself to the shareholders during the general shareholders meeting. 

BLG expects sales decline in 2020

The CEO Frank Dreeke expects a high impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Currently, a reliable forecast of business development of the BLG Group in 2020 is not possible. But the CEO anticipates that the original expectations will not be met. However, he emphasized that BLG LOGISTICS has a solid financial basis, is robust, and is in a position to be able to weather the storm.

The general shareholders meeting voted by 98.39 percent for Dr. Claudia Schilling and by 99.29 percent for Dietmar Strehl to join the Supervisory Board. Dr. Claudia Schilling and Dietmar Strehl succeeded Karoline Linnert and Martin Günthner. The general shareholders meeting represented 86 percent of the share capital. With a large majority, it discharged the Supervisory Board and the CEO and also agreed with all their proposed resolutions. This includes the utilization of the net profit and payment of a dividend of 40 cents per share.