Koen Van Gerven: “2019 has been a challenging year in financial terms”
bpost is going to pay its shareholders an interim dividend of 0.62 euros per share. This is over 40 % less than the payment from a year ago of € 1.06.
The dividend policy of bpost is to pay a minimum of 85% of the net profit after tax of bpost N.V./S.A. (BGAAP) in two installments, an interim dividend paid in December based on the results of the first 10 months of the year and a final payment after the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders based on the results of the last two months of the year.
On 6 November 2019 the Board of Directors confirmed the guidance to distribute at least 85% of the 2019 BGAAP net profit bpost NV/SA as dividend. Consequently, the Board of Directors today approved the payment of an interim dividend of EUR 124.0m or EUR 0.62 gross per share based on EUR 147.0m net profit after tax of bpost N.V./S.A. for the 10-months period January to October 2019.
The paying agent appointed by bpost to process the interim dividend payment is Euroclear Belgium.
On 2 December 2019 the Board of Directors also confirmed its guidance to distribute at least 85% of the 2019 BGAAP net profit bpost NV/SA as a total dividend relative to the financial year 2019. The results of the year 2019 and the proposed final dividend will be communicated on 17 March 2020 after trading hours. The decision on the amount of the final dividend will be submitted for approval to the Shareholders’ meeting on 13 May 2020.
Koen Van Gerven, CEO declared: “We are in the midst of our transformation into a global e-commerce logistics player while remaining an efficient mail operator anchored in Belgium. 2019 has been a very important year on this journey and we have taken a number of major steps forward. The accelerated preparation towards our alternating distribution model is well on track with the national implementation foreseen in March next year. Radial North America has started to turn the tide with increased client satisfaction, reduced customer churn and new client arrivals ahead of expectations. However, 2019 has also been, as foreseen, a challenging year in financial terms since we continued to be impacted by 2018 client churn and repricing at Radial North America. Mail & Retail had to cope with accelerated mail volume decline while bearing project costs for our alternating distribution model and mounting cost pressure in general. These effects weighed on results in 2019, but I’m glad to observe that to date they are in line with our expectations for the year supported by the outstanding performance of Parcels & Logistics Europe & Asia. As a result we can reward our shareholders with a dividend at 85% of our BGAAP net profit, fully in line with guidance.”
