Gefco Group

Full portfolio of logistics services

26. October 2010

BY: RALF KLINGSIECK

The French transport and logistics group Gefco is going to concentrate on

one-stop logistics solutions for its customers in industry. In line with this
intention, the service provider will withdraw from the B2C sector and focus
on e-commerce logistics.

Gefcos chairman of the board, Yves Fargues, recently said in Paris that Gefco,
which was created as a subsidiary of the PSA automobile group, still generates 75%
of its turnover with services for the automobile and two-wheeler industry and its
suppliers. This applies to the PSA brands Peugeot and Citroen, which alone
account for 60% of Gefcos sales, as well as to other car makers such as Toyota,
General Motors, Ford and Renault.

A wide range of strengths

In addition, an increasing number of opportunities to make the best possible use of
Gefcos own capacities have evolved in recent years, thanks to contracts with
companies from the cosmetics and hygiene sector, as well as from the entertainment
electronics and aviation industries. Gefco now wants to rely on the experience that it
has obtained and concentrate on providing services in these sectors instead of
attempting to gain a foothold in new and unknown domains.
Phil Shankley, who became Gefcos new director for commercial development and
marketing last year, said that his company delivers a convincing performance and
has strengths in many fields. He has grouped the firms expertise the generic names
architect, integrator and operator. As an architect of logistics solutions, Gefco is able
to design sector-specific, cross-border logistics schemes and transport plans. His
company acts as an integrator when it manages customers supply chains and
integrates multimodal paths for suppliers, client teams, transport capacities,
platform management, customs clearance services, and more.
Gefco slips into its operator role when it is mandated by customers to physically
carry out transport and logistics activities. This applies to the deliveries of raw
material and components, as well as to the logistics that accompany production
operations and the storage and distribution of finished goods. Gefco has the
requisite capacities for these activities, as well as development offices staffed by
young, dynamic engineers, Fargues explained and added that now that the
economic recession is more or less behind us, we want to trigger a new upturn by

bringing this factor into the game.

The Gefco group reported a turnover of EUR 2.8 billion in 2009, 18.3% lower than
that generated a year earlier.
Despite the decrease, the service provider was able to maintain profitability and
generated an operating result of EUR 102 million. The 2009 return on sales was
3.5%, compared to 3.6% in 2008. Last year, Gefcos sales plunged by 19% in Europe
and by 16% in South America, because fewer cars were produced during the
economic slowdown. Elsewhere in the world, particularly in China and the Maghreb
states, some of the service providers business activities grew at double digit rates.

Favourable H1/2010 results

We are delighted with the development in the first half of 2010. Sales rose by 23%
to EUR 1.7 billion and our H1 operating result amounted to EUR 120 million, a
proud Fargues pointed out. The group has 9,400 employees worldwide and
subsidiaries in 26 countries, mostly in Western, Central and Eastern Europe, as well
as in China, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Tunisia and Morocco. When asked, Fargues
confirmed that his company had no intention of creating its own business in North
America, as its parent corporation PSA is not active there.

www.gefco.net