The CEO of Deutsche Post’s DHL, Frank Appel has given an “unequivocal” denial that the logistics giant is looking to shed its troubled freight forwarding division, dismissing the flurry of  reports as nothing more than “false rumours”.

In a statement Deutsche Post DHL Group CEO, Frank Appel, said: “To clear up false rumours and to be unequivocal, Deutsche Post DHL Group is not exploring the sale of our Global Forwarding and Freight Division.

“We have a market-leading position in this business with a strong brand, an unmatched global network, and the best people in the industry. DGFF is core to our company and we see a good future for it as part of DPDHL Group.”

The denial comes nearly a week after reports began sprouting after a Reuters report quoting un-named sources who said the global logistics giant would dispense with its forwarding division either by spinning if off in some form of strategic joint venture, or outright sale with Japan Post highlighted as a potential suitor.

An outright acquisition of the entire forwarding division has been estimated to be worth around US$5 billion. The idea behind the sale would be to enable the DHL group to focus on its mail and express business, without the burden of the loss-making forwarding arm.

The beleaguered DHL Global Forwarding division has been struggling of late, no better illustrated than by last year’s failed experiment with a new IT system known as the ‘New Forwarding Environment’, which saw a US$388 million write-down, which resulted in a 71 per cent drop in third-quarter core earnings to $222 million.

In a rare admission of failure the company said it had simply been “overwhelmed” by the botched IT roll-out. The fiasco saw a number of senior executives leave the company, including CEO Roger Crook.