Kuehne & Nagel sees slight revival in seafreight

ZURICH, April 9 (Reuters) - Swiss logistics group Kuehne & Nagel (KNIN.VX) has seen some recovery in seafreight in recent weeks, Chairman Klaus-Michael Kuehne was quoted as saying on Thursday.

"Our strongest business, seafreight, has seen a slight revival over the past weeks," Kuehne told German business weekly WirtschaftsWoche in an interview published on Thursday, but added he was not sure whether this marked a permanent turnaround.

Kuehne & Nagel is world No. 1 in seafreight and No. 4 in airfreight in terms of sales, businesses both hit hard by the global slowdown and resulting drop in world trade.

It announced last month that it could cut between 5 and 10 percent of its 54,000-strong workforce in 2009 as it looks to keep costs under control.

"If the crisis gets worse, I can not guarantee that we will not have to make even more cuts," Kuehne told the magazine.

The company missed forecasts and gave a bleak outlook last month when it reported fourth-quarter results, but Kuehne said that he would still be interested in acquiring a rival logistics division of Deutsche Bahn [DBN.UL].

"The land transport of DB Schenker is a pearl," he said, adding that he had a "concrete" interest in buying but did not think it would be possible to acquire it separately. (Reporting by Josie Cox, editing by Will Waterman)