CEVA posts mixed results for 3Q
Following the beginning of French seafreight firm CMA CGA’s governance over Swiss 3PL CEVA Logistics at the start of this year, the Swiss 3PL has seen mixed results in its financial figures.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for the CEVA Group increased significantly y-o-y to reach $125 million for the quarter period ending Sept. 30. Group revenues, meanwhile, declined 3.4% y-o-y, in constant currencies to about $1.75 billion. For the first nine months of 2019, the group’s EBITDA and revenue reached $389 million and $5.26 billion, respectively.
The Contract Logistics segment saw a 4.8% y-o-y decline in revenues to $884 million in 3Q, while its EBIDTA increased to $29 million compared to $8 million seen the year prior. For the first three quarters of 2019, combined, revenue dropped 7.8% y-o-y to $2.68 billion.
Revenues from Freight Management also declined by 1.9 % y-o-y, to $864 million, while EBITDA for the sector dipped by $9 million to $13 million in 3Q. However, revenue for the segment increased by 1.6% y-o-y to $2.58 billion over the first nine months of 2019. EBITDA for this period fell by $19 million to $45 million.
CEVA cited seasonal trends, due to holiday seasons, consumer demand, weather and other intra-year variations as impacting these figures. “Freight Management results are generally stronger in the final two quarters of the calendar year, which is partly offset by Contract Logistics results, which are often weighted to the first half of the year,” CEVA said. “Seasonality is also offset to some extent by its sector diversification, as well as the global nature of its business; however, overall [our] company’s first quarter is generally the weakest.”
Along with the installation of new leadership at CEVA, with CMA CGA CEO and chairman Rodolphe Saadé as chairman of the CEVA Board of Directors and Nicolas Sartini as CEVA CEO, CEVA opened its new headquarters in Marseilles, France, as well as a new center in Sri Lanka, earlier this year.
As of Sept. 30, 2019, nine months from the settlement of CMA CGM’s January public tender offer, the seafreight company said it now holds more than 99% of the share capital and voting rights of CEVA. The parent company plans to continue the program it launched earlier this year aimed at raising more than $2 billion of liquidity to reduce CEVA’s initial net debt of $2.43 billion by more than $900 million over the next three years.
