Poste Italiane Q1: profitable contributions from all businesses, while confirming cost discipline

Poste Italiane has released its q1 2023 financial results  revealing a “solid q1-23 financial performance, well on track to meet 2023 guidance”.

• Revenues for the period were equal to €3.0bn, increasing by 8.1% compared to €2.8 billion in the first quarter of 2022: 

• In q1-23 mail, parcel & distribution segment revenues came resilient to €893m (-0.9% y/y). mail revenues up 2% supported by repricing actions and improved mix. parcel revenues stable y/y with positive contribution from b2c. o financial services segment revenues rose to €1.4bn, +7.9% y/y, driven by net interest income. 
• Insurance segment revenues totalled €393m in the first quarter of 2023, increasing by 5.5% compared to a strong previous year’s level of €373m and in a challenging market scenario. q1-23 life gwp at €6.0bn (+21.1% y/y), with positive net inflows of €2.1bn. P&C  gwp up 63% y/y to €201m driven by welfare policies.
• Payments and mobile segment revenues rose markedly by 48.2% to €343m in the first quarter of 2023, driven by impressive contributions from all product lines, lis poste italiane q1 2023 group results press release 2 consolidation and the new energy offer.

• Q1-23 total costs totalled €2.3bn, increasing by 7.0% compared to €2.1bn of the previous year in line with expectations. excluding the effect of ifrs17 and m&a, hr costs were broadly stable with lower ftes mitigating higher salary and compensation costs. cogs increased due to inflation and energy business start-up costs. d&a increased on the back of higher capex. the change in perimeter related to m&a activities had an additional impact of €65m in non-hr costs.

• EBIT for the period was equal to €767m, up by 11.2% y/y compared to €690m in the first quarter of 2022, supported by all businesses. mail parcel and distribution was the key contributor with ebit up 58%, financial services (+11% y/y) and payment & mobile (+14% y/y) grew double digit while insurance services increased by 3% compared to a strong q1-22 ebit.

• Q1-23 net profit came to €540m, 9.4% over the previous year’s level of €494m.

• TFAs reached €579bn in the quarter supported by net inflows of €0.8bn and positive performance effect of €2.6bn since december1 . positive net inflows of €0.5bn in q1-23 in saving and investment products2 with positive inflows in insurance, deposits and mutual funds and a revamped postal savings commercial offer.

• Strong capital position: bancoposta total capital ratio at 23.7% (of which cet1 ratio at 20.9%), leverage ratio at 3.1% and poste vita group solvency ii ratio at 267%, well above managerial ambition. 

Matteo Del Fante, Poste Italiane Chief Executive Officer and General Manager commented: “First quarter results are very strong, significantly increasing visibility on 2023 guidance with a solid financial performance and profitable contributions from all businesses, while confirming cost discipline.

Commercial trends have been supportive in all businesses as customers continue to see Poste Italiane as a safe haven for their savings and a majority of their daily needs. Our financial products shield our clients from market volatility throughout the economic cycle, with over 90% of customers’ TFAs protected from market turbulence.

Our B2C parcel volumes increased compared to a stable wider market, whilst mail revenues improved thanks to repricing actions and higher value-added services. In Financial Services, favourable interest rates supported higher recurring NII, while postal savings distribution fees are on track to meet our FY 2023 guidance.

This quarter has been a busy one for Insurance Services with IFRS17 adoption. We posted strong results in a challenging market, with strong net inflows of €2.1 billion coupled with a consistently low lapse rate below 4%. We have also completed the Net Insurance tender offer to accelerate the growth of our Protection business.

Payments & Mobile recorded, yet again, double-digit growth, fully capturing the increase in cashless payments in Italy with transaction value up 18% year-on-year supported by strong e-commerce growth. The PosteEnergia offer has been very well received by our customers, reaching around 200 thousand contracts signed to date.

The strong start to the year puts us well on track to achieve our 2023 targets. Most importantly we are committed to rewarding all our stakeholders with a sustainable performance in 2023 and beyond, starting with the dividend balance of €0.44 per share to be paid on 21 June.”