Czech state-run postal service Ceska posta's pre-tax profit falls 67% y/y to CZK 331 mln in 2006
Czech state-run postal services provider Ceska posta (CP), slated for privatization, reported a 2006 pre-tax profit of CZK 331 mln, down more than 67% year-on-year (y/y), mainly on expenses linked to its transformation into a joint-stock company, the company announced in a statement Tuesday.
“Extraordinary operations amounting to CZK 666.9 mln reduced CP’s pre-tax profit, but at the same time they helped us correct inaccuracies in past accounting and will enable more precise accounting in the future,” Deputy Finance Director Ladislav Musil said in a press release.
The company’s operating revenues rose 2% y/y.
CP’s transformation from a state public enterprise to a joint-stock company is a first step toward privatization. The process began last year and is scheduled to be completed in 2008.
If the several one-offs linked to this transformation are not counted in, the postal services provider would have generated a profit exceeding CZK 1 bln, CP stated.
CP will probably be privatized through the entry of a strategic partner, CP has previously said.
In 2006, CP delivered 900 mln letters and 26 mln parcels.
It employs 38,000 people and operates 3,400 branches nationwide.
