BONN (dpa-AFX) - The logistics company DHL Group is taking a more pessimistic view of the current year and its medium-term business development. The economic development is throwing a spanner in the works for the DAX-listed company, which is why operating profit in 2023 will not be as high as previously assumed in the best-case scenario. Moreover, the management no longer expects to be able to earn as much operationally by the middle of the decade as in the record year 2022. As expected by the market, the third quarter was weaker than in the previous year.

The share price initially slipped, but then clearly turned positive. Most recently, it rose by 2.5 percent to 38.05 euros. The stabilization after the downward trend since the summer thus continued. One trader emphasized that the lowered forecast had been expected on the market. The new targets were also in line with expectations.

According to a statement on Wednesday, the management now expects earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of between 7 and 8 billion euros for 2025. Previously, the plan was for an operating profit of over 8 billion euros, which would potentially bring the logistics group back to the record level of 2022. Last year, the Bonn-based company earned over 8.4 billion euros. However, analysts had already been more pessimistic for 2025 and had forecast EUR 7.4 billion.

The current year will also be weaker on average than previously forecast. The upper end of the operating profit target range for 2023 has been lowered. The forecast is now between 6.2 and 6.6 billion euros.

The management team led by Tobias Meyer, who took over as CEO in the spring, had previously linked its annual targets to three scenarios - depending on whether and how quickly the economy recovers. The scenario for a recovery in the global economy from the start of the second half of the year and an operating profit of around 7 billion euros was dropped, it was announced on Wednesday. Analysts have an average of 6.5 billion euros on the cards for the year as a whole.

In the third quarter, DHL's turnover fell by just under a fifth to 19.4 billion euros. At just under 1.4 billion euros, the Group earned almost a third less than in the same period last year. This was in line with analysts' expectations. Consolidated net profit fell by a similar amount, amounting to 807 million euros in the three months to the end of September. After a record year in 2022, the Bonn-based company is currently lagging behind, mainly due to the recent downturn in the freight business and the economic weakness.

Barclays analyst Alexia Dogani wrote in an initial assessment of a robust third quarter in line with expectations. Her JPMorgan colleague Samuel Bland was also unsurprised by the results and the lowered targets. However, he pointed to a positive tax effect in the lucrative express segment with time-critical shipments and to non-cash income in the freight business. This somewhat diminishes the quality of the quarterly results.

Despite the weak economy, the management intends to continue with its share buyback program. The aim is still to buy back the remaining 1.2 billion euros by the end of next year. The next tranche is now being prepared, it was reported on Wednesday./lew/mis/jha/