Austria Post report 2Q decline

Oesterreichische Post reported a 14% decline in second quarter operating profit, in line with market expectations, and said the worst was not over for it yet, report Reuters.

Oesterreichische Post reported a 14% decline in second quarter operating profit, in line with market expectations, and said the worst was not over for it yet, report Reuters.

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Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) dropped to €27.6m ($38.99m) as revenue fell 4.8%. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected €28m in EBIT.

Austrian Post reiterated its bleak outlook from May, when it scrapped its guidance for stable revenue and profit and said that the economic crisis would weigh more on letter, parcel and direct mail volumes than previously expected.

“Mail volumes are expected to continue declining in the second half of 2009,” Austrian Post said in a statement. “It is anticipated that the current state of affairs will persist and that the downward trend has probably not yet bottomed out.”

Austrian Post’s main listed European peers Deutsche Post and TNT gave similarly gloomy outlooks in their second quarter results.