Freight group K+N second-quarter profit dip beats forecast

By Anastasiia Kozlova and Amir Orusov

(Reuters) - Swiss group Kuehne und Nagel on Tuesday reported a 23% drop in its second-quarter operating profit, beating expectations, and said it was ready for higher second-half demand after increased use of its Sea-Air Logistics service.

Its share price gained more than 1% after the market opened, but then retreated to trade around 1% lower.

Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) fell to 402 million Swiss francs ($452.24 million) in the second quarter from 523 million a year earlier.

The result beat the company-provided average consensus forecast of 385 million francs, although LSEG's average analyst forecast was 409.6 million Swiss francs.

"We are well positioned for anticipated higher demand in the second half of the year and we expect to realise further efficiency gains," Chief Executive Officer Stefan Paul said in a statement.

The company, which operates in more than 100 countries, did not provide its outlook for the current year, saying only it continued to focus on the initiatives of its Roadmap 2026 in the first half of the year.

The company said the impact from the Red Sea crisis "was minimal" in the first half. It had earlier expected it to affect its second-quarter EBIT in a low double-digit million francs range.

The transport and logistics operator reported Q2 EBIT in its Air logistics unit of 116 million Swiss francs compared to the average forecast of 101 million francs in the company-provided consensus.

($1 = 0.8889 Swiss francs)

(Reporting by Anastasiia Kozlova and Amir Orusov; Editing by Jamie Freed and Barbara Lewis)