HIGHLIGHTS

2005

Contracts & acquisitions

• January
Rhodia, Europe
The Rhodia Group entrusted the whole of its European flows of liquid in bulk, by rail and full truckload, to Geodis BM, departing from its 30 European factories. The objective of the two partners is to optimise the overall costs while sharing the profits.

Embraer, Europe and Middle East
3rd largest manufacturer worldwide of civilian aircraft, the Brazilian Embraer Company has retained Thales Geodis Freight & Logistics to ensure its reverse logistics in Europe, North Africa and in the Middle East. Objective: to reduce the repair cycle of equipment by managing all the stages (retrieval of the part from the customer, examination at Le Bourget, dispatch to Europe, USA or Canada for repair, return to stock or direct return to the customer).

Daimler Chrysler Malaysia
Signing of a 3-year contract for domestic transportation, stocking and maintenance of Mercedes-Benz private vehicles assembled in the DCM factories in Pekan and Petaling Jaya (Malaysia).

• February
Danone, Mexico
Termination of responsibility for the logistics contract for fresh products at a controlled temperature to Mexico – 28 articulated trucks arrive and the equivalent of 70 small vans and 9 articulated trucks are dispatched each month.

• March
Carrefour, Indonesia
Geodis is chosen to ensure stocking and domestic distribution of the 13 Carrefour hypermarkets in Indonesia.

ElcoBrandt, France
Within the framework of the reshaping of its organisation, ElcoBrandt entrusts its network distribution to Geodis – 600,000 domestic appliances to be delivered each year to the retailers.

• May
Referendum on European constitution project - France
Geodis coordinates the transportation and logistics of "documents with a view to the treaty establishing a constitution for Europe" received by every voter prior to the 29
May Referendum – 14,500 tons of paper in total, which is twice the weight of the Eiffel Tower.

• July
Nestlé Purina Petcare, Germany
The agri-food group entrusts Geodis Germany with the running of its central warehouse in Cologne – storage and distribution of feedstuffs for domestic animals (Doko, Felix, Gourmet, Matzinger, Proplan, Purina One) with the creation of 50 jobs on the platform.

• September
Electrolux Professional, Spain
Collaboration agreement with the leader of integrated solutions for professional kitchens and laundries on the operation of logistics services and distribution in Spain. A new contract, which reinforces the logistics trade in Geodis Iberia's comprehensive offer.

Spain
Acquisition of Ibercondor, air and sea transportation agent. Founded in 1982 and based in the airport area of Madrid, this company has 5 branches in Spain at its disposal and representation in the United States.

• October
Groupage/Express, France
Geodis acquires six agencies of the France Express network: Strasbourg, Mulhouse, Belfort, Epinal, Tarbes and Brest. The agreement also provides for the acquisition of capital by Puy-de-Dôme Express of Calberson-Danzas in Clermont-Ferrand, a company that is also a member of the France Express partnership.

Thomson & TTE, Europe
Geodis is accepted as the only supplier in Western Europe by Thomson, for the logistics and distribution of audio and video products, and by TCL-Thomson Electronics, who acquired Thomson's TV operations in 2004. Countries affected: France, Italy, Spain, Germany, the Benelux countries, United Kingdom, Switzerland. In order to deal with these volumes, Geodis has built a 20,000m² platform at Malsfeld in Germany in addition to its warehouses in Evry in France, Grezzago in Italy and Cabanillas in Spain.

Carrefour, Korea
After Indonesia, the 2nd worldwide in distribution entrusts Geodis with the management of its 30,000 m² distribution centre in Icheon, south of Seoul, and the national distribution of its dry goods to 31 stores.

• December
LXML, Laos & Thailand
Following on from a 6-year contract signed with this Laotian subsidiary of the Australian, Oxiana, Geodis is the 1st company to get the international ADR agreement (Agreement on the transport of Dangerous goods by Road) * in Thailand. In response to recent technological developments and respect for the environment, Geodis' tankers transport sulphuric acid from this country to the LXML copper mine in Laos.

New operations

• February
The Netherlands
Opening of new assembly lines at the Venlo logistics platform. Covering 49,000 m², the site employs up to 500 staff for its services from receipt, to stocking and dispatching of high added value services (assembly, customisation, and packaging).

• March
France
Opening of a new 20,000 m² logistics platform in Saint-Quentin Fallavier in the Lyon area. The site is dedicated to two customers: Auchan (stocking and preparation of orders) and Schneider Electric (receipt, stocking, packaging and cross-docking* bound worldwide).

• June
Belgium
Opening of a 2nd 10,000 m² logistics platform near the port of Antwerp. A new European logistics centre complementing the 13,000 m² warehouse opened in 2004 and responding to the demands linked to offshore production in Asia.

Hungary
The opening of a 29,000 m² platform at Budaörs, near Budapest, brings the number of Group operations in the country to seven. Capable of receiving goods by rail, this infrastructure is a European centre of distribution of centralised products from various countries to Eastern markets (Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania).

• August, September and October
China
Opening of 3 new offices in Quingdao, main port in the north of the country, Wuhan, central province of Hubei, and Ningbo, province of Zhejiang in the East. Present in China since 1978, this means Geodis now has 9 of its own operations. Its global and sector-based multi-business offer is aimed at local customers wishing to invest in other markets and to international customers manufacturing or distributing their products on-site.

France
Geodis Calberson expands in Valence. Established on a 33,000 m² site, the new Etoile-sur-Rhône branch occupies a strategic position in the Rhône-Alpes region and complements the capacities offered in the Lyon area.

Innovations

• January
Traceability
At the Traceability Show in Paris, Geodis presents its expertise and customer solutions in global and sector-based traceability, with particular emphasis on the recent innovations of Geodis BM (traceability adapted to the synchronous flows for the car industry, traceability by cross-docking monitoring, traceability of container stock for the industry).

• February
Total Customer Satisfaction, France
Launch of TCS (Total Customer Satisfaction) "361°", a new stage in the Total Customer Satisfaction approach. Objective: to organise the development of personal talents, to promote innovation and to increase added value of commercial processes by increasing internal sharing of abilities, know-how and innovative ideas.

Packaged air offer
Launch of Aerodis, a range of commercialised air services by all Geodis entities; Aerodis Premium, Charter, Expedite, Expert…, provided with terms and conditions and specific agreements for every service.

• March
Distribution, France
As a specialist in High Tech products, Geodis Euromatic declares its know-how in two new offers expanding its field of operation. Instalmatic is a "B-to-B" specialised distribution service operated by one single person. ElcoBrandt (domestic appliances) was its 1st customer. Homematic, operated by two people, is a delivery and installation service in private homes.

Reverse Logistics
At the International Week of Transport and Logistics (SITL), Geodis introduces its complete new offer of management and processing of current and end-of-life products. Its conception benefited fully from the expertise of subsidiaries and specialised Group locations: Valenda, G²R, Geodis BM (Pack Service).

• April
European Groupage
Launch of eurofirst, a new European Groupage service. Commercialised by all the subsidiaries in Europe, the offer comes up to customers' expectations by the regular frequency of departures, follow-up of dispatches and proof of delivery available on the Internet or in four days, delivery of quality assessments, procedure harmonisation and contact with a dedicated representative.

• September
RFID
Successful setting up of a "strategic loop" for Alstom Transport for the supply of assembly lines. This technology, requiring automatic identification by radio frequency, enables the reading and modification at non-visible microchip distances (tags) and finds multiple innovative applications in the field of traceability of contents and containers.

• December
Hungary
Launch of www.geodis.hu, new bilingual Hungarian/English website dedicated to Hungary, which was preceded by bringing new websites on-line in the Benelux countries (www.geodis.be and www.geodis.nl), United Kingdom (www.geodis.co.uk) and the Asia region (www.asia.geodis.com).

Shows and exhibitions

• May
China
Exhibition at the French Pavilion of SITL China, in Shanghai. A presence, which conveys a strategic challenge for the Group: the development of its operations in Asia.

Germany
Geodis' participation at Transport Logistic Munich 2005 is the opportunity for the Group to introduce its multi-business and multi-sector offer on a European scale.

• July
Mexico
At the Expo Logistica Trade Show in Mexico, Geodis enhances its expertise through two customer successes: the national prize for best logistics operators of the year was rewarded to Danone Mexico; cross-docking activities are provided by the hard discount brand SuperCalité.

• October
France
Geodis is a partner at the 1st RFID 2005 Show at the Palais des Congrès in Paris. Group specialists participate in four conferences, particularly in the car and textiles industries fields.

• December
Morocco
Participation at Logima, logistics chain trade fair in Casablanca. Founded in 2000, Geodis Morocco enjoys strong growth. With the last two platforms opening in Had Soualem and Ain Sebaâ, the subsidiary now has some 22,000 m² of operating area.