Deutsche Post’s fourth-quarter profit rose as Europe’s largest postal company benefited from increased online commerce and growth in emerging economies.

Earnings before interest and taxes rose 7 per cent to €885 million, the Bonn-based company said today. Sales fell 0.6 per cent to €14.5 billion, meeting analyst expectations.

The company plans to pay a dividend of 80 cent a share for 2013.

Chief executive officer Frank Appel has sought to stabilize earnings and avoid most of the effects of recessions in Europe that had left freight companies struggling to maintain earnings, focusing on German parcel deliveries and time definite shipments to and from Asia.

“We took a significant step forward in 2013,” Mr Appel said in the statement. “We will continue to work hard to reach our 2015 goals given the continued sluggish global economic environment,” he said.

Parcel volumes in Germany rose 7.4 percent to 1.03 billion units last year. Deutsche Post profit by 2015 will amount to €3.35 billion to €3.55 billion, the company reiterated. This year, profit will rise to between €2.9 billion and €3.1 billion , the company said.

Bloomberg