Poste Italiane improves H1 profits

Poste Italiane, the Italian national postal operator, has achieved double-digit growth in revenuesand profits in the first half of 2007 thanks to strong sales by its banking unit Banco Posta.

The group said it increased revenues by 8.6% to EUR 9.5 billion from January-June 2007.Operating profits rose by 18.3% to EUR 959 million, and net profits ended up 18.1% at EUR 448million.

Postal revenues grew by 3.4% to EUR 2.8 billion, while financial revenues were up by 4.5%.The key growth driver was Banco Posta with a 5.5% rise in the number of current accounts to 5.1million and strong sales of its pre-paid debit card Postepay.