DHL 2015 Annual Report Download - page 99

Deutsche Post  Group —  Annual Report
addition – as well as the additional annual payments of around  million to be made
in the future – will be reimbursed. Reimbursement would only aect the liquidity of
Deutsche Post ; the earnings position would remain unaected.
Although Deutsche Post  and the federal government are of the opinion that the
state aid decision of  January  cannot withstand legal review, it cannot be ruled
out that Deutsche Post  will ultimately be required to make a potentially higher pay-
ment, which could have an adverse eect on earnings.
In addition to the opportunities and risks arising from sector-specic regulation
pursuant to the Postgesetz (PostG– German Postal Act), the company is subject to add-
itional opportunities and risks arising from legal conditions.
On  November , the Bundeskartellamt (German federal cartel oce) initiated
proceedings against Deutsche Post  on suspicion of abusive behaviour with respect
to mail transport for major customers. Based upon information from Deutsche Post’s
competitors, the authorities suspected that the company had violated German and
European antitrust law. In a decree dated  July , the Bundeskartellamt determined
that such violations had indeed taken place but also that Deutsche Post had discontinued
them at the end of . No ne was imposed. e company appealed the decision to
the Higher Regional Court in Düsseldorf on  August  and submitted a statement
setting out the grounds of appeal within the prescribed period.
We describe other signicant legal proceedings in the Notes. However, we do not see
these proceedings posing a risk of signicant deviation from plan for the forecast period
.
Macroeconomic and industry-specific opportunities and risks
Macroeconomic and sector-specic conditions are a key factor in determining the suc-
cess of our business. For this reason, we pay close attention to economic trends in the
regions. Despite the volatile economic climate, demand for logistics services rose in ,
as did the related revenues.
A variety of external factors oer us numerous opportunities; indeed we believe that
the global market will continue to grow. Advancing globalisation means that the logis-
tics industry will continue to expand at least as fast, as or faster than, the world economy
as a whole. is is especially true of Asia, where trade ows to other regions and in
particular within the continent will continue to increase. As the market leader, the ex-
pansion will benet us with our  divisions to an above-average extent. is also
applies to other regions with strong economic growth such as South America and the
Middle East, where we are similarly well positioned to take advantage of the market
opportunities arising.
Whether and to what extent the logistics market will grow depends on a number of
factors. e trend towards outsourcing business processes continues. As a result, supply
chains are becoming more complex and more international, but are also more prone to
disruption. Customers are therefore calling for stable, integrated logistics solutions,
which is what we provide with our broad-based service portfolio. We continue to see
growth opportunities in this area, in particular in the Supply Chain division and as a
result of closer co-operation between all our divisions.
e booming online marketplace represents another opportunity for us in that it is
creating demand for transporting documents and goods. e  market is experiencing
double-digit growth, particularly due to the rapid rise in digital retail trade. is has
created high growth potential for the domestic and international parcel business, which
we intend to tap into by expanding our parcel network.
Glossary, page 
Note 
Glossary, page 
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Group Management Report — OPPORTUNITIES AND RISKS — Categories of opportunities and risks