Austrian Post today announced Q1 results with revenue growth of 6% driven by acquisitions but lowerprofits due to special effects including the early Easter holiday this year.
Group revenue from January to March 2008 was up 6% to €609.9 million thanks to the first-timeconsolidation of seven new mail and parcel subsidiaries. But volume and revenue were impacted in aquarterly year-on-year comparison by one working day less and the timing of Easter already in March2008, as well as by the loss of two major parcel customers in Austria, it noted.
EBIT dropped by 9.5% to €49.9 million, leaving the group operating margin at 8.2%. Pre-taxprofits declined 6.9% to €52 million and net profits dropped 2% to €41.9 million.
The mail business increased revenues by 8.3% to €370 million, largely due to the first-timeconsolidation of new postal subsidiaries but also thanks to organic revenue growth. The division’soperating profit (EBIT) dropped slightly by 0.4% to €74.1 million.
External sales by the Parcel & Logistics Division climbed 4.5% in the first quarter of2008 to €191.2 million. Its “premium parcels” business (24-hour delivery to business and privatecustomers) grew both internationally thanks to the new subsidiaries and domestically in Austria. Asexpected, volume and revenue decreased in the “standard parcels” segment in Austria due to lostcustomers. The ongoing repositioning and downscaling of the standard parcels business in Austria isproceeding on schedule, the postal group said. In Q1, the division’s EBIT declined by 51.6% to €4.7million, leaving it with a 2.3% profit margin
Austrian Post said that, all in all, it confirms its original forecasts for the 2008financial year, namely a stable to slight increase in its total revenue (up to 3%) and slight dropin EBIT.
