Financial Results Confirm Logistics Strategy

Munich-based intermodal and shortsea logistics provider Robert Kukla closes its 2022 financial year with a substantial 22 percent increase in turnover. “In particular, the expansion of the network via associated companies with the development of our own logistics products contributed to this above average success,” sums up Kukla CEO Knut Sander. For 2023, he again expects organic growth of around 20 per cent. With its eleven affiliated companies and the headquarters in Munich, Robert Kukla achieved a turnover of EUR 248.7 million last year with 180,000 transported units. This represents an improvement of 22 percent over the previous year.

Investments ensure growth

According to Sander, the investments in the development of the European locations are paying off: “Due to the increasing number of participations, we are working more efficiently, especially with regard to fixed costs. Overall, our growing European network has created a high degree of self-dynamics, which is expressed in a double-digit plus on the income side. The affiliated companies, for example, contributed the lion’s share of EUR 30 million to the total increase in turnover of EUR 45.46 million. The headquarters in Munich also developed exceptionally well with an increase in turnover of 14 per cent.”

Logistics Strategy

In particular, the locally managed locations were very successful in the free development of independent logistics services. As an example, Sander mentions the development of full load transports with the integration of permanent carriers at the Düsseldorf location, which is developing rapidly. The Kukla company in Milan (Italy) introduced a train system with slot bookings for intermodal transports in 2022 and the Hamburg location now handles the entire FOB processing for containers (organisation of the pre-carriage to loading on board).

The company also registered a strong increase in the area of UK shipments. “In the aftermath of the post-Brexit, there was an immense shift in trailer transports to containers, from which we benefited,” explains Sander. The volume transported has increased by about 50 per cent to 24,000 containers annually. In order to be more independent of external service providers, Robert Kukla has meanwhile opened his own customs agency in Folkestone.

Potential in nearshoring and existing customer business

For the current year, Sander again expects growth of about 20 per cent. The existing customer business is the main contributor to this. “The larger network brings new opportunities for our customers, especially in the intermodal sector, synergies arise,” Sander concretises, adding, “with shippers, whom we strongly supported during the time of acute supply chain problems, we experience higher appreciation and retention than before the Corona pandemic.” The Kukla CEO also sees potential in the emerging trend towards nearshoring: “Procurement markets are moving closer to Kukla’s home market. We are represented with intermodal logistics solutions in the growth regions of Eastern Europe and North Africa, also involving Shortsea. Our transport volume in these countries is currently increasing noticeably.”

Robert Kukla GmbH Internationale Spedition, headquartered in Munich, specialises in multimodal and intermodal transports, tank transports and truck transports worldwide and has extensive experience in warehouse logistics. The Munich-based logistics service provider has locations in Hamburg, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Milan, Breda, Stockholm, Bilbao, Calais, Lisbon, London and Thessaloniki. Kukla has been in operation since 1941, works worldwide with a dense network of high-performance cooperation partners and employs around 280 people at all its locations. Of the approximately 180,000 units transported annually, about 60 per cent are accounted for by short-sea traffic and 40 per cent by shipments by rail and truck