By Carlo Martuscelli 
 

Deutsche Post AG said Friday that it sees a hit to its earnings before interest and tax of between 60 million and 70 million euros ($65.7 million-$76.6 million) in February, due to the coronavirus epidemic.

The depressed earnings are a result of weaker trade volumes in Asia, the German package-delivery and supply-chain-management company said.

The company also said it was setting aside plans to pursue partnership options for its StreetScooter electric-vehicles unit. As a result, it expects to book a one-time charge of EUR300 million-EUR400 million.

The impact of the virus over the course of the rest of the year is still difficult to gauge, the company said.

Deutsche Post said its 2020 guidance, which targets an EBIT of more than EUR5 billion, is for now excluding the impact of the novel coronavirus as well as the StreetScooter charge.

Due to the change in guidance, the company said it was making public a number of its financial items ahead of its results on March 10. Deutsche Post said revenue in 2019 rose 2.9% to EUR63.3 billion. Group EBIT grew by 31% to EUR4.13 billion.

At 1229 GMT, shares of Deutsche Post were down 3.6% to EUR27.59.

Write to Carlo Martuscelli at carlo.martuscelli@wsj.com; @carlomartu

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 28, 2020 07:53 ET (12:53 GMT)