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The Deutsche Post AG, operating under the trade name Deutsche Post DHL Group, is a German multinational package delivery and supply chain management company headquartered in Bonn, Germany. It is one of the world's largest courier companies. The postal division delivers 61 million letters each day in Germany, making it Europe's largest such company. The Parcel division DHL is a wholly owned subsidiary claimed to be present in over 220 countries and territories.
The Deutsche Post is the successor to the German mail authority Deutsche Bundespost, which was privatized in 1995 and became a fully independent company in 2000. Since its privatization, Deutsche Post has significantly expanded its business area through acquisitions. In late 2014, the group acquired StreetScooter GmbH, a small manufacturer of electric vehicles. Two years later, the group acquired UK Mail, a business-focused postal service in the UK for US$315.5 million (£243 million). The former company became a division of the Deutsche Post European parcel network.
The Deutsche Post DHL Group 2016 earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) was €3.491 billion (up 44.8 percent over 2015), with a net profit of €2.64 billion on revenue of €57.334 billion. Return on equity, before taxes, was 27.7 percent. The group's long term credit rating, in November 2016, was BBB+ with a Stable outlook per Fitch's.
Deutsche Post AG is listed on the Börse Frankfurt (Frankfurt Stock Exchange) as DPW and is in the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index. In 2016, 20.5% of the group's shares were held by the state-owned KfW bank; 79.5% were freely floating: 65.6% held by institutional and 10.8% by private investors.
Recent history
The Deutsche Post DHL Group has become a large, world-wide company in about two decades. The following are significant dates in the development into its current form.
- 2 January 1995: Deutsche Bundespost Postdienst becomes Deutsche Post AG; this is the company's privatization. The government of Germany still owns a large share of the company; the state development bank KfW owns 50 percent.
- 1998: Deutsche Post begins acquiring shares in DHL International.
- 1999: Deutsche Post World Net acquires the Dutch distribution company Van Gend & Loos from Nedlloyd and in 2000 the Swiss distribution company Danzas.
- 20 November 2000: Deutsche Post AG becomes a fully private company, with a new Board of Directors, in an IPO listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The government of Germany sells one third of its shares and KfW bank sells some of its shares.
- December 2002: Deutsche Post AG acquires the remaining shares in DHL International.
- August 2003: The company acquires the Seattle-based Airborne Express (est. 1946). The company integrates Van Gend & Loos, Danzas, Airborne Express, and its own EuroExpress into DHL to form DHL Express.
- December 2005: The group acquires the logistics company Exel in the UK, a £3.7 billion (€5.5 billion) takeover; Exel provided transport for corporate customers.
- 2006: DHL GlobalMail UK merges with Mercury International.
- December 2014: The group acquires StreetScooter GmbH, a small manufacturer of electric vehicles in Aachen, Germany.
- December 2016: The group completes the purchase of UK Mail, a business-focused postal service - "one of the largest integrated parcels and mail operations in the U.K." - for US$315.5 (£243) million. The former company becomes a division of the Deutsche Post European parcel network, although its web site reveals only a relationship with DHL Express.
- February 2019: Through the instrumental moves of Frank Appel and Pablo Ciano, The group reaches an agreement with SF Express (SF Holding) for its supply chain operations in China.
