The quarterly results of DHL Group is reduced by falling letter volumes in Germany. The group announced that its mail business in the first quarter “declined as expected and had a negative impact on earnings.”
The fact that more parcels were sent could not fully compensate for the declining volume of letters and the increased transport and personnel costs. The operating result from the letter and postal business in Germany, i.e. profit before taxes and interest, fell by 5.8 percent compared to the previous year. The group had 2025 For the first time in its history, more sales came from parcels than from letters.
The global business of DHL Group, on the other hand, is doing better. Overall, the operating result rose by 8.3 percent to almost 1.5 billion euros, due, among other things, to price increases and a savings program. The group confirmed its forecast for 2026. “After the first three months, we are well on the way to achieving our annual goals,” said CEO Tobias Meyer. “Despite blocked sea routes and closed airspace, we keep our customers’ supply chains running.” The group expects an operating result of over 6.2 billion euros for the current year.
Freight division suffers from Iran war
In the international express business, the group’s biggest revenue generator, DHL was able to increase profits despite a slight decline in sales. Price increases also helped. Consequences of the Iran War were shown in the figures from the DHL freight division. Sales and operating profit fell significantly here.
DHL cut around 16,000 jobs last year, and at the end of 2025 the group still employed almost 584,000 people. Overall, costs across the group are to be reduced by more than one billion euros by 2027. Meyer also cut jobs in the German letter and parcel business.