Belgian Post successfully limited the impact of the international recession in the first half of2009 and kept profits stable due to voluntary cost reduction measures.
The Belgian postal operator saw revenues decline by 1.5% to €1.11 billion from January-June2009 on a like-for-like basis. The decline was the result of a 4.5% fall in volumes, partlycompensated by higher tariffs and commercial initiatives.
Reported operating profits actually rose strongly to €257 million from €140 million lastyear. However, this included a one-off positive effect of €117 million resulting from the transferof health-related pension costs to a separate fund. The underlying operating profits improvedslightly to €139 million from €135 million last year. The pre-tax net profit dropped 8% to €143million while the net profit rose strongly to €220 million from €103 million.
“Belgian Post is feeling the effects of the crisis, too,” said CEO Johnny Thijs. “Volumesfell in the first two quarters by about 4.5%. Fortunately we were able to limit the damage bydriving down our operating costs further. Our ambition for 2009 continues to be to achieve the sameoperating profit as we did in 2008.”
In an internal message to employees, Thijs stressed that “cost reductions need to be steppedup further, because we also expect volumes to continue to fall in 2010”.
In conclusion, the CEO pointed out that the crisis puts extra pressure on Belgian Post, whichis preparing assiduously for full market opening in 2011, less than 18 months from now. “I assumethat the government will set the rules soon and that a level playing field will be guaranteed, inline with the government’s decision of December 2008,” he commented.
Meanwhile, Belgian Post also announced that it will increase the standard stamp price fordomestic letters from €0.59 to €0.69 from January 1, 2010. The present price will, however, beoffered for purchases of 10 stamps or more. In the same way, the basic price for a standard letterto a European address will increase from €0.90 to €1.00 for single stamps, but remain at thecurrent price for purchases of five stamps or more.
The postal operator said the move was justified by the need to cover the costs of sellingindividual or just a few stamps, along with an effort to encourage customers to buy in bulk andthus reduce average post office waiting times. Single stamp sales are heavily loss-making, with aloss of more than three times the stamp price, and more than half of all stamp sales in postoffices are for fewer than 10 stamps, the company pointed out.
The price of sending a parcel within Belgium for delivery within 24 hours via subsidiaryTaxipost will remain unchanged at €5.70.
