Kuehne+Nagel raises guidance, sees second half matching strong start

By Anastasiia Kozlova and Amir Orusov

July 23 (Reuters) - Logistics group Kuehne und Nagel lifted its operating profit guidance for 2026 on Thursday after stronger-than-expected second-quarter earnings and said it expected the second half to be at least as strong as the first.

It joined a string of logistics companies that have upgraded their earnings expectations in recent weeks, pointing to resilient demand despite economic uncertainty. Deutsche Post, Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk have all raised their outlooks, while DSV lifted the lower end of its targeted profit range.

K+N, which operates in more than 100 countries, expects recurring earnings before interest and taxes of 1.35 billion to 1.55 billion Swiss francs ($1.66 billion to $1.91 billion) for the full year, up from the 1.25 billion to 1.40 billion franc range it had last raised in April.

"We expect the second half of the year to be at least at the level of the first half," Chief Executive Stefan Paul told Reuters, expressing confidence that the new outlook is realistic.

K+N's earnings before interest and taxes rose 11% to 381 million francs in the second quarter, beating analysts' expectations of 356 million francs.

The company is deploying AI agents across its operations under an efficiency programme aimed at boosting productivity by around 5%, with annualised benefits of 100 million to 150 million francs expected by the end of 2027.

The initiative builds on a separate cost-cutting programme announced in March, Paul said.

"We agree that AI deployment has the ability to reduce cost at forwarders and that Kuehne+Nagel should be one of the winners," Bernstein analysts said in a note.

The Swiss freight forwarder's shares were stable in morning trade after rising 6.8% in pre-market trading.

($1 = 0.8130 Swiss francs)

(Reporting by Anastasiia Kozlova and Amir Orusov, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak and Matt Scuffham)