DHL 2011 Annual Report Download - page 61

by buying e-bikes, work clothing and new operating equipment. We have expanded
electronic platforms such as the -Postbrief and our DieRedaktion.de journalists’ por-
tal. To consolidate and expand our market leadership in Germany, we made major in-
vestments in our parcel business during . One focus was our Production Concept
, which is aimed at establishing  exible  structures and systems and adjusting
production capacities to increasing shipment volumes. To meet customer demand,
we expanded our network of Packstations. We continued to extend our MeinPaket.de
shopping portal for small and medium-sized e-commerce retailers to strengthen this
customer group’s ties with our company. We also restructured and improved the retail
outlet network of Deutsche Post .
 strengthens infrastructure
In the  division, capital expenditure rose by   to   million (previ-
ous year:   million). During  investments had been scaled back in the light of
the global economic crisis. In the reporting year the investing activity was resumed to
meet our regular investment requirements and actually increased in line with our strong
growth. Capital expenditure in property, plant and equipment related mainly to advance
payments and assets under development (  million), technical equipment and
machinery (  million), aircra (  million),  (  million) and transport equip-
ment (  million). Investments in intangible assets related to so ware (  million),
as well as to advance payments and intangible assets under development (  million).
 e advance payments and investments were primarily made to purchase new air-
cra and carry out regulatory maintenance of the existing  eet.  e ground network
infrastructure has been strengthened throughout the regions. In the Asia Paci c region,
we are currently investing in our new North Asia Hub in Shanghai. We have also bol-
stered our presence in the growth markets of India and China. In the Americas region,
we focused investment on Mexico, Canada and our hub in Cincinnati . In Europe,
we modernised our Leipzig hub as well as terminals in Italy, the , Austria and Sweden.
 ,  expands  solutions
In the  ,  division, a total of   million was invested
in the year under review (previous year:   million). Of this  gure,   million was
attributable to the Global Forwarding business unit, where we continued to improve
 solutions for our global applications. Additionally, we  tted out and modernised our
warehouses, especially in the Asia Paci c and Europe regions.
Funds of   million were invested in the Freight business unit, where they were
used primarily for property, plant and equipment and transport equipment in the 
and Germany.
Deutsche Post DHL Annual Report 
Group Management Report
Economic Position
Financial position
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