FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - Concerns about economic development and thus also about the business performance of DHL Group weighed on the shares of the logistics company on Tuesday. At 40.455 euros, their price reached the lowest level since May. Most recently, the shares were among the biggest losers in Germany's leading Dax index, down 2.20 percent to 40.82 euros.

Analysts at investment house Kepler Cheuvreux lowered their profit expectations in an outlook for the Dax group's third quarter figures expected on November 8. There was still a lack of recovery in shipment volumes in the second half of the year, and there were currently headwinds from fuel prices and exchange rates, they wrote in a research note. As a result, management may have to refine its full-year operating profit target to the lower to mid end of its guidance range, they said.

Nevertheless, with a lowered price target from 51 to 49 euros, the Kepler experts continue to see sufficient scope for a "buy" vote in the medium term. They justified this with a possible recovery of the package volumes as well as with the valuation of the shares. This is because the shares appear to be favorable in comparison with the past and in relation to those of competitors.

It was not until the presentation of the half-year figures at the beginning of August that DHL Group had been somewhat more confident for the year as a whole, at least for the lower end of the outlook. Since then, it has been forecasting earnings before interest and taxes (Ebit) of 6.2 to 7 billion euros. However, this did little for the shares - on the contrary: Since then, the papers have been stuck in a downward trend. At the time, analyst Samuel Bland from JPMorgan noted that the logistics group had merely landed exactly where it was expected to.

Against this backdrop, investors would have cashed out for the time being after an annual increase in the shares of more than 30 percent. This has since melted down to around 16 percent, which means a place in the front midfield of the Dax. After profit-taking had initially dominated the picture, concerns about business development are likely to have followed./mis/lew/stw