DHL 2004 Annual Report Download - page 56

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The largest contributor to revenue continued to be the Mail Communication
Business Division, even though revenue at € 6,780 million was 1.8% below the previous
year’s figure of € 6,904 million. The main reason for the fall in revenue was a one-time
effect in the previous year estimated at around € 80 million. As a result of the price cuts
we announced in 2002 for the beginning of 2003, business customers postponed some
mailings from the end of 2002 to the start of 2003.
The weak domestic economy in the fiscal year forced a decline in sales on us in the
business customer segment, and at the same time we lost market share to competitors.
The extent to which letters were substituted by electronic communication media such as
e-mail and text messaging remained moderate overall.
Sales to private customers stabilized at the previous year’s level thanks to sales
promotion activities.
Mail Communication (Deutsche Post AG share)
mail items (millions)
2003
1) 2004
Change
in %
Business customer letters 7,713 7,515 – 2.6
Private customer letters 1,463 1,459 – 0.3
Total 9,176 8,974 – 2.2
1) Prior-period amounts restated due to restructuring of Mail International Business Division and other product portfolio optimization measures
The Direct Marketing Business Division is continuing its successful development.
Revenue rose by 4.3% to € 2,820 million (previous year: € 2,704 million). We were able to
increase sales of most products substantially, thanks to the effectiveness of our sales
organization.
Direct Marketing (Deutsche Post AG share)
mail items (millions)
2003
1) 2004
Change
in %
Infopost /Infobrief (addressed advertising mail) 6,632 6,870 3.6
Postwurfsendung / Postwurf Spezial
(unaddressed / partly addressed advertising mail) 3,473 3,846 10.7
Total 10,105 10,716 6.0
1) Prior-period amounts restated due to restructuring of Mail International Business Division and other product portfolio optimization measures
In the Press Distribution Business Division, we were able to maintain our revenue in a
market showing a slight decline. Volumes, on the other hand, fell by around 2%, and
amounted to 2,125 million items in the year under review.
In the Mail International Business Division, growth in revenue was mainly attrib-
utable to the integrated acquisitions in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and the
USA. Together with the Value Added Services Business Division, it recorded revenue
amounting to €1,699 million (previous year: €1,531 million).
The one-time effect on revenue in the Mail Communication Business Division
described above was reflected in earnings. Increases in the other business divisions, how-
ever, were able to compensate for this, so that the profit from operating activities before
goodwill amortization (EBITA) actually rose slightly in comparison with the restated
prior-year figure to € 2,085 million (previous year: € 2,082 million). We had expected
EBITA to be on a par with the previous year’s reported figure of € 2,036 million. In the
event, it exceeded this amount by 2.4%.
Our return on sales of 16.4% (previous year: 16.7%) again reached the high level we
sought to achieve.
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