Latvia Post: The active modernisation of services has led to “even higher results”

In the first half of 2023, the net turnover of Latvijas Pasts reached 55.9 million euro, which is 17.5% more than in the corresponding period last year.

Thanks to the growth in the transit services segment and the reduction of production costs, which was achieved through the modernization and improvement of the processes, the company’s operations resulted in a net profit of 1.2 million euro in the first six months of 2023.

The most substantial revenue increase of Latvijas Pasts in the reporting period compared to the planned figure is made up of transit services, which in the first half of this year contributed to an increase in revenue by 5.2 million euro or 36.8% compared to last year. The increase can primarily be attributed to the resumption of the postal item flow to the Baltics and Ukraine after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine launched by the Russian Federation in February 2022 and the related geopolitical changes.

As regards the segment of the Universal Postal Service, which is made up most of the domestic letter-post items, cross-border outbound letter-post items, and cross-border inbound letter-post items, revenues reached 18.9 million euro in the first six months of 2023, which is 2.8 million euro more than in the corresponding period of the previous year.

“The past few years have been challenging for the industry, but they have revealed a clear vision of customer needs and habits. I am grateful to our employees and customers for their loyalty and trust. The active modernization of processes and services is an essential part of our effort to achieve even higher results. We recognize the importance of energy – saving solutions for today and tomorrow, as well as the significance of creating and implementing a sustainable business model. To meet the current needs of our customers, we plan to continue modernizing the company so that we can offer top-quality services that are not only modern but also environmentally friendly and sustainable,” Mārcis Vilcāns, Chairman of the Board of Latvijas Pasts, points out.

Latvijas Pasts has introduced a series of improvements this year: for example, since April, VISA payment debit cards have been available to customers, allowing them to conveniently make payments and purchases remotely. So far, 2,529 cards have been issued, and a total of 5,000 such cards are planned to be issued by the end of the year. Furthermore, customers can use the Latvijas Pasts Pay mobile app, which allows them to manage their funds on the Latvijas Pasts account, as well as make secure payments with a VISA payment card.

Continuing the company’s path towards streamlining its operations and adopting sustainable solutions, Latvijas Pasts has added environmentally friendly cars to its fleet, which allows it not only to reduce the impact on the environment but also to significantly cut down expenses. The company’s fleet currently consists of 582 delivery vehicles, more than half of which are the new, more environmentally friendly Toyota Yaris Cross cars purchased for postmen in March this year. Their low fuel consumption makes it possible to reduce CO2 emissions.

Adapting to changing customer habits, the company is purposefully continuing the expansion of the parcel locker network this year. By the end of 2023, it is planned to offer at least 220 parcel lockers throughout Latvia. Processes have also been improved based on the impact of delivery speed on customer satisfaction. An automated postal item sorting line has been installed in the Riga item processing and sorting center, which will further facilitate various manual operations, as well as significantly speed up the work process: it can handle at least 2,500 items per hour. A combination of these and other technical improvements has significantly increased work efficiency: 94.7% of domestic ordinary unregistered items are delivered the next business day, while 80.9% of ordinary unregistered cross-border items (parcels, letters, etc. on a European scale) can reach their recipients the next business day.

 In the remaining months of this year, Latvijas Pasts plans to continue work on improving its processes and technical solutions: it is planned to start procurement for an automated letter sorting line. With funding from European Union funds, approximately 200 solar panels with a total capacity of 110 kW are expected to be installed near the Latvijas Pasts office building during the second half of the year. The plan also involves the expansion of the availability of services to customers by installing new parcel lockers across Latvia.