July 30 - DSV has posted a growth in profit for the period covering January 1, 2014 to June 30, 2014.

DSV posted a net revenue of DKK23.76 billion (USD4.26 billion) for the first half of 2014, compared with a figure of DKK22.38 billion (USD4.01 billion) in the same period of 2013. The company's gross profit also grew 3 percent from DKK4.9 billion (USD878 million) in the first half of 2013 to DKK5.07 billion (USD909 million) in 2014.

"We maintained the positive growth trend in number of shipments in all our business areas in the second quarter of 2014," said company ceo Jens Bjorn Andersen. "The earnings growth owes to our global air and sea freight activities, which reported top line growth and increased productivity."

The company posted a 9 percent increase in sea freight volumes and an 11 percent increase in air freight for the first half of 2014, but this was offset by DSV's road and solutions divisions which reported a slight drop in earnings.

"The European road freight and contract logistics markets are characterised by fierce price competition, which had an impact on our earnings in these business areas," said Andersen.

"We still see good possibilities for growth, both organically and through acquisitions," he added.

DSV maintains its outlook for 2014 as previously announced, but operating profit before special items is expected to be in the range of DKK2.55 billion (USD457 million) to DKK2.7 billion (USD484 million) against the previous outlook of DKK2.5 billion (USD448 million) to DKK2.7 billion (USD484 million).

Gross profit for 2014 is expected to be in the range of DKK10.1 billion (USD1.81 billion) and DKK10.5 billion (USD1.88 billion). Despite its high expectations for market growth, this is counterbalanced by a reduced profit per shipment, hence the full-year financial outlook remains unchanged, explained DSV.

www.dsv.com