Supply Chain division
Impacts of external factors on our business
External factors such as high inflation, uncertain economic development, geopolitical conflicts and labor shortages caused global supply chain bottlenecks and additional complexity for businesses in the year under review. High flexibility, standardized processes and targeted data analyses made a contribution to the management of our customers’ supply chains.
Supply Chain: continued growth of revenue and earnings
Revenue in the Supply Chain division was up by 3.2% to €16,958 million in the year under review. Excluding negative currency effects of €462 million, the increase was 6.0%. All regions and sectors recorded revenue growth that was bolstered by new business, contract renewals and expanding e-commerce business. Revenue remained flat in the fourth quarter of 2023. Excluding negative currency effects of €121 million, the increase was 2.7% in the fourth quarter.
In the reporting period, the Supply Chain division concluded additional contracts with a volume of €7,378 million. The Consumer, Retail and Technology sectors accounted for the majority of the new business, which is, in a large part, attributable to e-commerce-based solutions. The contract renewal rate remained at a consistently high level.
EBIT in the Supply Chain division increased to €961 million in the year under review (previous year: €893 million). In addition to the positive development of revenue, earnings growth was spurred by productivity improvements thanks to digitalization and standardization. The EBIT margin was 5.7% in the year under review. EBIT in the Supply Chain division decreased minimally from €225 million to €220 million in the fourth quarter of 2023, which is attributable primarily to negative currency effects.
KEY FIGURES, SUPPLY CHAIN |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| €m | 2022 | 2023 | +/–% | Q4 2022 | Q4 2023 | +/–% |
| Revenue | 16,431 | 16,958 | 3.2 | 4,363 | 4,361 | 0.0 |
| of which EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) | 7,252 | 7,481 | 3.2 | 1,946 | 1,935 | –0.6 |
| Americas | 6,832 | 7,003 | 2.5 | 1,787 | 1,797 | 0.6 |
| Asia Pacific | 2,419 | 2,542 | 5.1 | 649 | 654 | 0.8 |
| Consolidation/Other | –72 | –68 | 5.6 | –19 | –25 | –31.6 |
| Profit from operating activities (EBIT) | 893 | 961 | 7.6 | 225 | 220 | –2.2 |
| Return on sales (%)1 | 5.4 | 5.7 | – | 5.2 | 5.0 | – |
| Operating cash flow | 1,433 | 1,726 | 20.4 | 820 | 779 | –5.0 |
1 EBIT/revenue.
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SUPPLY CHAIN: REVENUE BY SECTOR, 2023
SUPPLY CHAIN: REVENUE BY REGION, 2023
