Logistics: Profit slump at Kühne+Nagel: up to 1,500 jobs lost

The Swiss logistics group Kühne+Nagel wants to make savings after a slump in profits in the third quarter and, among other things, cut up to 1,500 jobs. The company announced this at its headquarters in Schindellegi and at the same time lowered its profit expectations for 2025.

The company speaks of a “trade war”. It has reported a sharp drop in transport volumes to the USA since US President Donald Trump announced high tariffs on almost all countries at the beginning of April. In addition, there would be overcapacity and pressure on margins, i.e. a reduction in the profit margin.

The savings program is intended to reduce costs by more than 200 million francs per year. In addition to job cuts, the company wants to increase productivity through, among other things, process optimization and the increased use of automation. The planned reduction would affect almost 2 percent of the total workforce of around 85,000 employees.

Kuehne + Nagel is a leading global logistics group. The company was founded in Bremen in 1870, but moved its administrative headquarters to Switzerland more than 70 years ago. Majority shareholder Klaus-Michael Kühne (88) from Hamburg is one of the wealthiest people in Europe.

Net sales fell by seven percent to six billion francs (6.5 billion euros) in the third quarter compared to the same period last year, partly because of the strong franc against the US dollar. Operating profit (EBIT) fell by 37 percent to 285 million francs quarter-on-quarter and net profit fell by 39 percent to 206 million francs.

“Due to the ongoing uncertainties and the effects of the trade war in the fourth quarter of 2025, Kuehne+Nagel expects EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) of more than 1.3 billion francs for the full year 2025.” So far the expectation was in the range of 1.4 to 1.6 billion francs.