Swedish postal operator Posten said it has made a strong start to 2007 with improved Q1 profitsthanks to good parcels and logistics growth, new mail business and more productive operations
following restructuring into three operational businesses at the start of this year.The company increased net sales by 17% to SEK 7,704 million (EUR 841.4 million), itsoperating profits improved by 30% to SEK 843 million (EUR 92.1 million) and net profits were up by13% to SEK 614 million (EUR 67.1 million).
President and CEO, Erik Olsson, said: “With an even greater customer focus in Posten’s newoperational structure, and the momentum of the strong economy, we have had a strong start in 2007.”
The Swedish group generated strong logistics growth with a 13% rise in logistics revenues toSEK 2,097 million (EUR 229 million) and turned around the Q1 result from a SEK 16 million (EUR 1.7million) loss in the first quarter of last year to a profit of SEK 117 million (EUR 12.8 million).This was an operating margin of 6%.
Posten’s parcels business increased revenues by 7% to SEK 1,373 million (EUR 149.9 million)on volumes up 1.5% to 16.9 million shipments, while other logistics revenues soared by 27% to SEK724 million (EUR 79 million). In its Q1 report, the company said that both the B2B and B2C parcelsectors were growing well in Sweden, while in-night freight and third-party logistics were also up.
Retail and wholesale customers, who generate 60% of logistics’ sales, were the key growthdrivers. “Production volumes increased by a full 10 percent during the first quarter. We havesucceeded in handling the increased flows of goods with our existing capacity, which is evident inthe positive operating earnings,” Olsson noted.
Under its logistics expansion plans, Posten plans to increase the number of parcel collectionpoints in Norway this spring to improve its service offer within the fast-growing distance tradingsector, he added.
Posten’s core mail business increased revenues 2% but operating profits were up 14%,resulting in an operating margin of 15%. The trend towards more direct mail and heavier weightmailings was compensating for the fall in income from regular mail, Olsson noted. Stralfors, theinformation logistics business, increased Q1 sales by 26% thanks to both organic growth andadditional volumes from Posten.
