Parcel services hit Business Post
Business Post, the mail delivery group, reported a 74 per cent fall in pre-tax profit after persistent problems at its core parcel services business.
The company, which has issued four profit warnings in 16 months, said pre-tax profit fell 74 per cent to Pounds 5m for the year to March 31, in line with expectations.
Sales rose from Pounds 233.3m to Pounds 278.2m. Its shares rose 31 3/4p to 379p yesterday.
Guy Buswell, the chief executive brought in last December to turn the company round, said: “This is not great news on a numbers basis but we have done a lot since January and I have absolute confidence in the recovery.”
Business Post has suffered largely because of its franchise network, set up to allow it to expand rapidly in a boom period.
Andrew Nussey, analyst at Altium, said: “Business Post has had to bail the franchises out and take them into the corporate centre and in some cases write off any loans advanced. This has had an ongoing hit on profitability.”
