Deutsche Post DHL Group’s nine month profits have doubled to €1.8 billion ($2 billion) with strong growth in all business areas.

The group was helped by the Global Forwarding division returning to profit, making €183 million compared to a €280 million loss in the same nine month period of 2015. In the third quarter, Global Forwarding made a profit of €63 million compared to a €337 million loss in 2015. Airfreight volumes grew 1.5 per cent in the third quarter to 909,000 tonnes.

DHL Express’ nine month profits were up 3.8 per cent to €1.1 billion though was down 7.7 per cent to €336 million in the third quarter. European revenue remained highest at €4.6 billion, a 4.4 per cent improvement, followed by the Americas rising 6.6 per cent to €1.9 billion, Asia Pacific grew three per cent to €3.8 billion and the Middle East and Africa was up 1.2 per cent to €780 million.

Deutsche Post DHL Group chief executive officer, Frank Appel says: “The strong trend in operating profit in all four divisions shows that we have set the right priorities with our Strategy 2020. We are taking an increasingly active role in the dynamic development of e-commerce all over the world and are continuing to invest in this segment.”