InPost parcel lockers will be installed at petrol stations across Italy under a deal between thePolish company and Spanish group Repsol.
The contract follows rapid revenue growth for InPost’s parent company Integer.pl in the firsthalf of 2014, driven by the international rollout of the self-service lockers network.
The agreement with Repsol, whose petrol station network covers 29 countries, will extend InPost’s lockers to additional cities in Italy and strengthen the existing network in other major Italiancities. In total, up to 1,000 automated parcel machines will be deployed in Italy by the end of2015.
InPost is investing about €30 million in its terminal network in Italy, where e-commerce isgrowing fast. It has signed a strategic agreement with TNT Express Italy, under which TNT provideslogistical services for the automated parcel machines and also offers its customers B2C deliveriesto the lockers.
The Polish firm is installing some 400 parcel lockers at various locations in major Italiantowns and cities under a deal with Banzai, the largest Italian e-commerce platform, and has signeda deal with supermarket group Carrefour to install self-service terminals at 200 Carrefour storesin Italy this year.
InPost has so far installed some 3,500 ‘easyPack’ self-service machines in diverse countries inEurope and overseas, including some 1,100 terminals in its home market of Poland, and has signed awide range of contracts to expand existing locations and enter new markets. These plans include2,500 lockers in France in the next two years, about 1,500 in the UK by the end of this year, 1,000in Italy by end-2015, and smaller agreements in Spain and in countries in Northern, Central andEastern Europe. Overseas, InPost will install terminals in the Middle East, Australia, Hong Kongand Malaysia under separate agreements.
These costly investments impacted on the half-year results of parent company Integer.pl Group.The group’s consolidated revenues increased by 77% to PLN 273 million (€65m) but operating profits(EBIT) only came to PLN 5.4 million (€1.3m). In the second quarter, the group raised a further PLN222 million (€53m) to finance the further expansion of the parcel lockers network through a privateshare placement.
In 2013, Integer.pl increased consolidated revenues by 23% to PLN 347 million (€83m) whileunderlying operating profits, excluding the sale of a Polish subsidiary, improved by 600% to PLN 24million (€5.7m).
Commenting on the half-year 2014 results, CEO Rafal Brzoska stated: “We have achieved resultsaccording to our expectations. They are a consequence of substantial investment in the easyPackproject, which we have already launched in almost all continents… Our target is to choose growthand to achieve long-term profits. That is why we have accelerated InPost parcel lockers expansionall over the world.”
