Postal giant Deutsche Post AG (DPW.XE) Thursday confirmed its 2009 net profit outlook as shipping volumes looked like they may have reached bottom in the second-quarter, and said it will reach its cost savings target earlier than expected.

The company expects a net profit for 2009 based on the valuation of put options on Deutsche Postbank AG (DPB.XE) shares, substantially above the EUR1.69 billion net loss in 2008. A put is an option to sell a security at a specified price, usually within a limited period.

The economic slowdown caused consumer spending to slump and sapped demand for consumer goods, which put the mail and logistics sectors under pressure as shipping volumes fell, but the company said Thursday that "business development in the second quarter confirms our view, expressed after the first quarter, that in percentage terms volume declines may have seen the bottom."

The Bonn, Germany-based company, which competes with TNT NV (TNT.AE), FedEx Corp. (FDX) and United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS), said it doesn't believe world trade will make a substantial recovery in the coming months, but it expects its full-year adjusted earnings before interest and taxes will reach EUR1.2 billion.

It now said it will hit its EUR1 billion cost savings goal in the second quarter of 2010, ahead of previous expectations for the end of 2010.

Reacting to a dramatic downturn in the shipping industry, Deutsche Post in May stepped up its wide-ranging restructuring program to cut costs, including extending working hours and postponing wage increases as well as scrapping organization levels, in an effort to adjust capacity to demand.

Second-quarter net profit dropped 71% to EUR66 million from EUR231 million a year earlier, but clearly surpassed a Dow Jones Newswires poll of 12 analysts, which forecast a net loss of EUR83 million.

Its first quarternet profit had soared to EUR944 million, from a EUR383 million profit in the same quarter of the previous year, on higher valuations of put options on Postbank shares.

Its closely watched adjusted earnings before interest and tax, or EBIT, fell 38% in the second quarter to EUR257 million, but was helped to some extent by cost reductions mainly in the Express corporate division.

EBIT was down 70% on the year at EUR109 million in the second quarter. Sales for the April-to-June period fell 18% to EUR11.07 billion, reflecting a steep fall in shipping demand across the globe due to a weak economy.

Company Web site: www.dp-dhl.com

-By Hilde Arends, Dow Jones Newswires; +49 69 29725 506; hilde.arends@dowjones.com