MAIL invests in the future

Capital expenditure in the MAIL division in the reporting period rose from €282 million to €329 million. These investments related in particular to technical equipment and machinery (€92 million), internally generated intangible assets (€76 million), other operating and office equipment (€73 million) and IT equipment (€55 million).

In the domestic mail business, investments focused on replacing technical equipment and machinery, IT, and other operating and office equipment. We purchased mail sorting machines for the mail centres in Germany that enable standard and compact letters to be processed more efficiently. We also replaced transport equipment.

In the domestic parcel business, the main investment areas were other operating and office equipment, technical equipment and IT. In the reporting period, we increased the number of Packstations by more than 1,000 to around 2,500.

With regard to retail outlets, we modernised the IT infrastructure, improved the software used at the counters and restructured the network.

Investments in the international mail business were down substantially and focused on replacement property, plant and equipment.

EXPRESS consolidates global network

We significantly reduced investments in the EXPRESS division in the reporting period to €380 million (previous year: €727 million), in line with the economic situation. Investments in property, plant and equipment focused on aircraft (€110 million), advance payments and assets under development (€100 million), technical equipment and machinery (€46 million), leasehold improvements (€26 million) and IT equipment (€16 million).

Investments in intangible assets related mainly to advance payments and intangible assets under development (€38 million) as well as software (€19 million). We maintained our worldwide network of aircraft and our vehicle fleet and established and expanded hubs and terminals.

In regional terms, we focused on Europe, the Americas and the Asia Pacific region. In Europe, we equipped terminals in Benelux, Scandinavia and the UK in particular. In the Americas, we replaced technical equipment and IT primarily as part of the restructuring of the US express business. In the Asia Pacific region, we invested in our network, terminals, gateways and office buildings.

Modern infrastructure for the forwarding and freight business

A total of €82 million was invested in the GLOBAL FORWARDING, FREIGHT division (previous year: €94 million). Of this figure, €58 million was attributable to the Global Forwarding Business Unit. Investments were made mainly in intangible assets (€20 million), leasehold improvements (€10 million), IT equipment (€10 million), advance payments and property, plant and equipment under development (€6 million), and other operating and office equipment (€5 million). This laid the foundation for a modern IT infrastructure, simplified processes and equipped buildings. In regional terms, we focused on the Asia Pacific region, the Americas and Europe.

Funds of €24 million were invested in the Freight Business Unit, where they were used primarily for terminal expansion and state-of-the-art IT. In regional terms, we focused on Germany, Scandinavia and the Benelux countries.