Swiss global logistics provider Kuehne + Nagel has announced yet another strong set of quarterly figures suggesting an acceleration in its already high rate of growth. The company's EBITDA is up 23.2% over the past quarter at CHF241milloin, compared to the past nine months which show a 16% increase. Turnover has increased less vigorously, but is up 17.6% over the quarter compared to 15.7% over the nine month period. EBITDA for the nine months January to September was CHF709million (€426million/$603million).

In seafreight, which is the K+N's biggest business, the company appears to be continuing to gain market share. Container shipping has had a mixed picture over past year, but K+N has recorded an increase of 16% in volumes. At 4.2% margins have remained steady over the period with profits rising in line with volumes at 15.2%. Airfreight too has bucked the trend with a 15% increase in volume. K+N have improved margins here, leading to a 31.5% increase in EBITDA at CHF146.6million.

The area where K+N has faltered is in its rail forwarding and networked road freight. Although turnover was up a remarkable 16%, EBITDA margins are still weak at 1.2 % and the nine month figure is still 18% below the same period in 2006 despite a mild recovery in the past quarter. These figures may be influenced by investment in physical infrastructure.

Contract logistics, in contrast, is in line with the rest of the company's business, growing both sales and profits at a remarkable rate. Turnover grew 20% over the nine month period whilst firming margins to 5%. EBITDA was CHF171million.

With a balance sheet strongly in the black, K+N is clearly in a position to buy whatever is up for sale in the European, and possibly world, logistics market. However the nature of K+N's management suggests that it is keen not to over pay.