Decline addressed mail volumes impacting Q3 results
5 November 2012 at 07:30 CET – The Hague
Full press release pdf [410 kB]
Highlights Q3
- Underlying revenues up 1.2% to €1,003 million
- Underlying cash operating income €4 million
- Performance Mail in the Netherlands impacted by high volume decline of 10.1%
- Pilots and review of alternatives for restructuring in the Netherlands
- Continued good performances Parcels and International
- Fair value adjustment stake TNT Express €180 million
- Net debt increased by €214 million versus year-end 2011 to €1,216 million
CEO statement
Herna Verhagen, CEO of PostNL, states: “In Q3, underlying cash operating income decreased from €21 million to €4 million, mainly as a result of the decline in addressed mail volumes.
Parcels saw good volume growth. The integration of Trans-o-flex progresses according to plan. With six new depots now operational, the New Logistics Infrastructure programme is on track and fully up to speed.
Despite the challenging competitive and economic environment, International showed volume growth everywhere. Overall the results improved against the previous year.
Following the slow start of the year, in this quarter the performance in Mail in the Netherlands remained under pressure. The third quarter was marked by a decline of addressed mail volumes of 10.1%, mainly due to substitution. After the temporary stop of the roll-out of the new infrastructure in Mail in the Netherlands in April, improvement initiatives have been implemented resulting in an enhancement of quality levels, which are now almost back to standard. One of the main pilots, that starts today, is a test in which three locations will be integrated. This test will show the potential for cost reduction against a lower risk profile because business process changes will be less disruptive. After review of all alternatives, we will take a decision with respect to the further roll-out of the reorganisation on which we will give an update at the latest with our Q4 results. We remain confident we will reach our long term savings targets. We expect a positive final decision by Parliament on the proposal to drop the Monday delivery requirement before the end of the year.
Looking at the remainder of the year, we expect the addressed mail volume decline to be between 8% and 10% for 2012. We reaffirm our underlying cash operating income outlook for the year, although we expect that the full year result will be at the bottom half of the range. The outlook remains sensitive to further developments in the roll-out of Master plans and the sale of real estate.”
About PostNL
PostNL processes 8.7 billion addressed postal items (including 106 million parcels) each year and delivers to addresses in the Benelux, Germany, the UK and Italy. PostNL’s main business is mail, parcels and e-commerce. The company also provides services in the area of data and document management, direct marketing and fulfilment. PostNL employs some 65,500 people. In 2011 the company generated a turnover of nearly 4.3 billion euros.
