Net sales fall at Itella
The Itella Group’s net sales in the first half of 2010 totalled EUR 904.6m, compared to EUR 916.2m for the same period of 2009. The Finnish national operator said that international operations accounted for 31% (30%) of net sales. Itella Information and Itella Logistics increased their net sales, while Itella Mail Communication saw its net sales decline.
Operating profit was EUR 12.1m (EUR 27.7m), representing 1.3% (3.0%) of net sales.
Financial performance was taxed by restructuring costs of EUR 13.8m (EUR 6.1m).
Profitability weakened considerably in Itella Mail Communication and slightly in Itella Information. Itella Logistics was able to decrease its loss.
Mail delivery volumes followed the trend seen in other industrialised countries. The volume of addressed mail decreased by 1% year-on-year. The delivery volumes of newspapers and magazines fell by 2% and 8%, respectively. Parcel delivery volumes dropped by 4%.
The average personnel reduction compared with the corresponding period in 2009 was 1,050 in Finland and 650 in other countries.
The Itella Group recorded net sales of EUR 450.6m in April-June (EUR 438.6m).
Operating profit was EUR -6.3m (EUR 7.8m), including EUR 14.5m (EUR 4.4m) of restructuring costs.
Jukka Alho, president and CEO: “Itella’s net sales do not yet suggest any clear changes in the economic conditions. Logistics are the most sensitive barometer in this respect; the result for the period indicates that the economic outlook is slowly improving. Recently the market has picked up in international freight and Russian warehouse logistics, for instance.
“In Finland we are reaching a situation where the financial recession is leading to accelerated digitisation of postal mail. Thus, we will have to adapt to decreasing delivery volumes in the next few years. This naturally involves a need for personnel reductions over a longer period of time.
“The profitability of Finnish postal services has been continually declining and is no longer satisfactory. Despite this, regulatory supervision in Finland is further hampering the profitability of postal services. In other countries and other fields of business that face similar problems efforts are being made to improve the operating conditions. This is particularly the case when citizens’ core services are at stake. A more challenging operating environment will increase the pressure to reduce personnel, and it will be especially difficult to provide postal services for sparsely populated areas. “
