February 5, 2026
DSV says that it had a “stable” performance for the full year in 2025 despite what it calls “a challenging and volatile market environment”.
Revenues were up markedly, hitting DKK247bn (US$39bn), whilst Gross Profit was 59% higher year-on-year at DKK66.8bn (US$10.55bn) and EBIT (Earnings Before Interest and Tax) increased by 24.8% to DKK19.6bn (US$3.1bn). The fourth quarter numbers suggest that sales and profits improved through the year, with Q4 EBIT up 48.5%. However, there is a major qualification of these results. Their increase is a reflection of the absorption of Schenker fully into DSV through 2025. A useful insight into the underlying performance of DSV in this period is its margins, with the operating margin falling from 9.6% in FY2024 to 7.9% in FY2025, whilst the conversion ratio has fallen from 37.5% in FY 2024 to 29.3% in FY2025. It is unclear what role the merger of Schenker played in the fall of these margins at the corporate level as opposed to the dynamics of the markets.
At the Air & Sea forwarding business, top-line numbers look impressive, with gross profit up 34.9% and EBIT up 34.9%. However, operating margins and the conversion ratio have been falling steadily through 2025, with the former reaching 8.1% in Q4 2025, as compared to 10.8% in Q4 2024. DSV admit that this fall in profitability is not just about falling freight rates in container shipping but also the “dilutive effect from Schenker”. They declare the hope that “ongoing realisation of synergies will lift the earnings over time” and that “remains our ambition to lift the combined yields towards our pre-Schenker levels”.
But not all of the DSV business suffered the same fate. The ‘Road’ freight business saw EBIT up 45% year-on-year, with operating margins up from 3.3% in Q4 2024 to 4.3% in Q4 2025. DSV said that this upward trend was “due to positive contribution from Schenker”. The ‘Contract Logistics’ had a similar dynamic, with the 66% increase in EBIT due to “the positive contribution from Schenker” as well as better demand from sectors such as ‘Technology’. Both Road and Contract Logistics imply that the merger with Schenker has improved asset utilisation.
These results from DSV are more equivocal than they first appear. In the Contract Logistics and Road businesses, the Schenker acquisition does seem to be paying off quickly; in Air and Sea Forwarding, there still needs to be a lot of what might be called ‘delivery’.
Author: Thomas Cullen
Source: Ti Insight
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