Correos battles mail volumes drop
Correos, the Spanish operator, ended 2009 with a loss of EUR 2m. The operator said the results are a direct consequence of the reduction of traditional postal flows caused by the economic crisis, which has also affected all postal operators worldwide, and accelerated the growth of electronic substitution. Volumes were down 9.6%
For 2009, the Group turned over just over EUR 2bn – a reduction of 4.5% from the previous year.
However, a strict cost-cutting plan left Correos in a better position than first predicted, when an initial forecast suggesting a loss of EUR 60m. For 2009, costs totalled EUR 2015m, with 1598m dedicated to staff costs – a drop of 4.6% from 2008.
The operator doubled the investment in automation, to EUR 19.1m, to further improve processes and increase the quality of the postal service. In late 2009, 88% of shipments from the baseline were classified by automatic means.
In 2009, Correos handled 4.6bn shipments (excluding those received from abroad or deliveries generated by the elections to the parliaments of Galicia and the Basque Country, and the European Parliament, which amounted to 156.3m). This represents a 9.6% decline in mail traffic.
