DHL Poised to Grow Again After US Exit

DHL Express is ready to grow again after a radical restructuring prompted by its exit from the U.S. domestic market, the head of the Deutsche Post subsidiary said.

"We've stabilized the business, everyone is refocused," Chief Executive Ken Allen told the Financial Times.

"I know it's early days, but we know what we need to do to grow," he said in an interview with the London newspaper.

By The Numbers: U.S. Domestic Air Cargo.

DHL shut its U.S. domestic delivery business in 2008, cutting 15,000 jobs and taking a $3.9 billion charge, after failing to break into a market dominated by FedEx and UPS.

But the company managed to keep 75 percent of its international clients in the U.S., according to Allen.

DHL planned to reduce U.S. losses to $560 million by now from $1.82 billion. "I can say we've done better than that," he said.

Allen said DHL Express is seeking to work more closely with Deutsche Post's two other freight units -- DHL Supply Chain Management and DHL Global Forwarding to offer shippers different methods to transport their products.

"It's not about cross-selling, it's about offering each customer a full range of logistical services," Allen said." People talk about a one stop shop, but I call it a mall."

DHL has cut costs, trimmed management, sold domestic delivery companies in France and the UK and expanded in China and India.

"The company is back to a level of profitability not seen since Deutsche Post took over (in 2002). We've taken out cost without sacrificing quality," Allen said.

-- Contact Bruce Barnard at brucebarnard47@hotmail.com.