News / International business the star performer for ID Logistics last year

French contract logistics specialist ID Logistics saw its international business lines overtake French operations as the largest source of earnings last year.

Full-year revenues outside its home market grew 42.7%.

This was partly spurred by opening a new contract logistics facility in the Spanish hub of Zaragoza for automotive manufacturer Opel, where it employs some 300 staff.

Full-year revenues for the group were €1.33bn, a 24.2% increase on 2016. French business lines saw revenues of €632.5m, a growth of 8.8% on 2016, although fourth-quarter revenues showed growth beginning to slow – it brought in revenues of €161.1m in the final three months of the year, a 3.2% increase over the €156.1m earned in the same period in 2016.

Meanwhile, revenue from international operations for the full year soared from €488.3m in 2016 to €696.7m last year, although similarly that growth was much more muted in the final three months and fourth-quarter revenues of €181.3m showing just 0.9% year-on-year growth.

Eric Hémar, ID Logistics chairman and chief executive, said: “We reached a key milestone in 2017 by achieving a critical size in Europe and expanding our business thanks to new world leaders.

“What’s more, our major expansion in e-commerce logistics puts us in a position to support our customers’ development and the roll-out of new services.”

The group said e-commerce activities contributed 12% to annual revenues last year “and this percentage will rise significantly over the next few years”.

Fourth-quarter e-commerce solutions delivered strong year-on-year revenue growth of 42% in France and 55% in international markets, as it sought to replicate its home market e-commerce strategy elsewhere in Europe, Latin America and Asia.

In France, the final quarter of the year was marked by the opening of a third new warehouse in Reau, south of Paris, for French e-commerce platform Cdiscount, which spans 60,000sq metres.