The framework of our Strategy 2030 will continue, and we firmly believe that global trade flows and distribution requirements will continue to offer attractive growth opportunities for our logistics business in the future. However, the risks to business performance and current forecasts are unlikely to reduce in the current geopolitical environment. In this environment, we will continue to place our focus on the factors we can control: Creating more efficient structures, consistent capacity management to balance cyclical or seasonal fluctuations, and further implementation of the structural cost program “Fit for Growth.”
We expect Group EBIT in 2026 to exceed €6.2 billion and therefore the previous year’s figure. The DHL divisions are projected to generate total EBIT of more than €5.6 billion. We expect EBIT in the Post & Parcel Germany division of more than €0.9 billion. Group Functions is expected to contribute around €–0.4 billion to earnings.
We expect further improvement in our new performance indicator ROIC over the medium term compared with the existing level. In the short term, including the 2026 fiscal year, ROIC is likely to remain at the previous year’s level at first, partly in light of the continued investment as part of Strategy 2030.
We expect for the 2026 fiscal year a free cash flow excluding acquisitions and divestitures of around €3.0 billion.
Apart from the changes already described, the current business planning has not identified any significant changes in the Group’s overall opportunity and risk situation compared with last year’s risk report. No fundamentally new risks with a potentially critical impact upon the Group’s result have been identified according to current assessments, even though the existing geopolitical risks have gradually worsened. Based upon the Group’s early-warning system and in the estimation of its Board of Management, there were no identifiable risks for the Group in the current 2026 forecast period that, individually or collectively, cast doubt upon the Group’s ability to continue as a going concern. Nor are any such risks apparent in the foreseeable future. The stable to positive outlook projected for the Group is moreover reflected in our credit rating.
