Major European logistics provider Geodis ended 2006 with a 5.3 per cent revenue growth totalling EUR3.78 billion (US$4.8 billion) on the back of a three percent year-on-year increase in fourth-quarter revenue, which reached almost the billion-euro mark for the first time.

Geodis' operations in France accounted for most of the company's annual revenue with a total of EUR2.65 billion, representing a 5.7 per cent rise over 2005. A company statement said the annual growth in France was supported by high volumes in groupage, or less than truckload, (LTL) and express in the last quarter of 2006, and by air and sea freight forwarding. The reduction of volume in contract logistics in the high-tech industry and the slowdown of automobile production partially offset this growth.

In Europe, annual revenue increased by 3.2 per cent. The company said Italy turned the corner in 2006 by showing growth. At the same time, development of new contracts in Eastern Europe and Germany continued. Trends in earlier quarters in high-tech contract volumes weighed on revenue in the Benelux and the UK.

Asia and the rest of the world registered the highest growth for the company with a 21.6 per cent surge led by strong developments in China.