27 February 2012 at 07:30 CET – The Hague
Full press release pdf [558 kB]
Highlights Q4 2011
- Solid performance in all segments continued
- Underlying revenues down 4.1% to €1,169 million (organic -0.2%)
- Underlying cash operating income €99 million (Q4 2010: €133 million)
- Net debt position €1,002 million as at 31 December 2011
- Stake in TNT Express: partial reversal impairment of €98 million
- Coverage ratio main pension fund 99.8%*, below minimum required level (around 104%)
Highlights FY 2011
- Addressed mail volume decline of 7.2% better than the outlook of 8 – 10%
- Underlying revenues up 0.3%, adjusted for PostCon revenues down 3%
- Underlying cash operating income of €220 million exceeds guided range
- Positive underlying cash operating income in International
- Proposed final 2011 dividend of €0.193 per share (including the pass-through of dividend TNT Express) to be paid fully in shares
CEO statement
Harry Koorstra, CEO of PostNL, states: ”This quarter, we continued to see positive developments in our operations. Addressed mail volumes showed a decline of 5.1% in the quarter, and looking at the full year, addressed mail volumes declined by 7.2%, a lower decline than expected. Volumes in Parcels increased, especially in December, resulting in good growth in revenues and results. International still saw growth in the Italy and UK businesses, although we are beginning to see some effects of the economic turbulence.
The financial markets remained volatile. The share price of TNT Express increased during the last quarter of 2011, leading to a partial reversal of €98 million of the previous impairment.
The coverage ratio of our main pension fund is around 100%* at the end of Q4, still below the minimum required level. We have invited the pension funds to discuss the top up payments as PostNL disputes the necessity of the top up payments that are invoiced to us. At the same time, we are negotiating with the trade unions to achieve necessary adjustments to the collective labour agreement, as the current pension arrangements are not sustainable.
We continue to manage our company so that we are prepared for future changes. The complex implementation of Master plan III in our Dutch mail organisation will continue and will show first results in 2012. We maintain our focus on the effects of liberalisation on both price and mix. In our Parcels and International businesses, we work on commercial initiatives to add profitable volumes.”
Note: underlying figures are at constant currency and exclude one-offs as detailed on page 5
* Including the first top up invoice from the pension fund (disputed by PostNL)
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.
