"On the back of that we've had some moderate market share gains," DHL Express Europe CEO John Pearson said, without providing details. DHL Express competes with United Parcel Service and FedEx Corp.

Asked to comment on Deutsche Post's plans to use drones to deliver parcels in future, Pearson said the company had been looking into the idea.

"I think it will be quite some time before you see the mailman disappear off the streets of Germany and Europe to be replaced by drones. It's an interesting idea. I think it has a long way to go before it becomes a commercially viable proposition," he said.

Deutsche Post DHL AG launched in Germany test flights of a delivery drone, a week after Amazon.com Inc. said it was developing drones to deliver packages to its customers.

Deutsche Post executives said they were testing the drones to deliver medicines in areas that are hard to reach.

Meanwhile, work on the new facilities in Leipzig will start this month and the expanded warehouse with a new shipment sorting system will be operational from the fourth quarter next year.

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