Deutsche Post, the German mail and logistics giant, said on Wednesday that its profits rose last year and were set to rise further this year.
Deutsche Post said in a statement that its net profit jumped by 27.5 percent to 2.091 billion euros ($2.9 billion) in 2013.
Underlying or operating profit was up 7.4 percent at 2.861 billion euros, while revenues slipped 0.8 percent to 55.085 billion euros.
The drop in revenues was due to negative exchange rate effects, said chief executive Frank Appel.
“Adjusted for these factors, however, revenues rose by nearly 3.0 percent. This gain was fuelled in part by higher postal rates as well as rising volume and revenues in the parcel business in Germany,” he said.
Other revenue drivers included strong growth in the express business, Appel said.
“We took a significant step forward in 2013. We built upon our existing strengths, affirmed our strong market position and significantly improved the company,” Appel boasted.
“We will nevertheless continue to work hard to reach our 2015 goals given the continued sluggish global economic environment.”
Deutsche Post said it remained confident about the outlook for this year and next year.
“Even though the world economy is expected to see only a small acceleration of growth, we expect to continue our positive earnings trend in 2014,” Appel said.
Underlying profit was projected to reach 2.9-3.1 billion euros.
Looking toward 2015, Deutsche Post said it “expects to increase operating profit to between 3.35-3.55 billion euros.”
The group said it would pay an increased dividend of 0.80 euros per share for 2013, up from 0.70 euros per share a year earlier.