Austrian Post announces 3% growth in half-year results
"The first half of 2011 proceeded very satisfactorily for Austrian Post. We are on the right track, pursuing our strategy of offsetting declining letter mail volumes by generating growth in the parcel business and advertising mail", commented CEO Georg Pölzl. "In the mail and parcel segments we succeeded in maintaining our market leadership position and continuing our development in other markets."
Against this backdrop, total revenue of the Austrian Post Group rose by 2.9% to €1,137.9m on a comparable basis, adjusted for the meiller companies which were deconsolidated at the end of 2010. The Parcel & Logistics Division posted the biggest increase of 6.2%, followed by the Mail Division, whose revenue rose by 2.1%. This was in contrast to the revenue decrease of 6.2% in the Branch Network Division.
The persistent focus on efficiency improvements and enhancing the flexibility of the cost structure showed positive effects in the first half of 2011. As a consequence, EBIT of Austrian Post climbed 9.1% to €81.3m, with all operating divisions generating positive earnings growth. EBIT of the Mail Division was up 10.2%, the Parcel & Logistics Division reported a 69.3% rise and the Branch Network Division an increase of 33.7%, the latter not least due to effective restructuring measures. Of the 1,876 postal service points, a total of 1,212 are already third-party operated postal partner offices, a rise of 456 in the past year.
On the basis of this development, a continuation of the revenue increase is expected, as shown by the 2.9% revenue growth achieved in the first half-year. With respect to the development of earnings, Austrian Post confirmed its objective of generating a sustainable EBITDA margin between 10% and 12%. The EBITDA margin for the entire year 2011 is expected to be at the upper end of the targeted range.
"The basis of our operations is our consistent customer orientation, to which we attach considerable importance to in all our decision-making processes. Innovative products and services with self-service features are significant factors underlying our business operations", says Pölzl. "Our current Austria-wide initiative ‚CO2 neutral delivery‘ is also in line with this approach to pro-actively support each of our customers demanding ecologically sustainable logistics services. Thus, key cornerstones of Austrian Post’s corporate strategy are the efficiency improvements and adjustments carried out as a response to the continuing changes in the market environment."
Quelle: eyefortransport
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