Poste Italiane sees growth in first half of 2009

Poste Italiane continued its run of growth in the first half of 2009, with improvements in operating profit and total revenue of €9.4bn, marking growth of 11.4%. -Total revenue of €9.4bn up 11.4%

-Operating profit of €805m up 7.2%

-Banco Posta current accounts up

-Postepay: European leader with 5m prepaid cards

Revenue growth was driven above all by Insurance Services, which achieved 18.6% growth in earned premiums (up €454m) and Financial Services, which report growth of 8.6% (up €201m on the same period of 2008). Postal Services, on the other hand, have recorded a reduction of 5% (down €143m), partly reflecting the growing use of electronic mail as opposed to the more traditional form of communication.

Thanks to the first-half operating performance, the Group reports consolidated net profit of €468m for the period (up €16m on the same period of 2008).

“The first-half results,” declared CEO, Massimo Sarmi, “confirm the Company’s strong operating performance, despite the difficulties encountered during the period and the increasing use of electronic mail, which is replacing the more traditional form of communication. The results are due reward for our strategies, which have enabled us to lead the way among international postal services providers, thanks to our significant ability to innovate and extend our service offering”.

The addition of new services and the growth of web banking laid the foundations for a further rise in BancoPosta current accounts, which now total 5.5m, marking an increase of 2.6% on 2008. Poste Italiane has also reinforced its leadership in the European prepaid card market with 5m Postepay cards, representing growth of 10.5%. This has been accompanied by strong growth in the use of the payment services provided by PosteMobile, which in just over a year has acquired more than 1m customers.