La Poste workers set for bonus, on back of strong sales in 2011
Postal employees in France are set for a bonus of around EUR 242 each after La Poste recorded a 23% increase in its group net income today. The growth came largely thanks to increases in parcel volumes, but mail revenues were stable despite declining letter volumes.
The French national postal operator issued its 2011 results showing a 1.9% increase in its overall turnover, to EUR 21.3bn, and net income up by almost a quarter to EUR 661m for the year.
La Poste chairman Jean-Paul Bailly said he wished to thank and acknowledge the daily commitment of workers during the company’s modernisation by offering the bonus payout totalling EUR 58.6m.
The bonus could be offered in the form of an employee share ownership programme, which remains subject to regulatory approval.
During the first year in which the French postal market was open to full competition, La Poste said it achieved strong sales and a tight grip on its expenses while sustaining its policy of service innovation.
The year’s results were supported by the first billion-euro portion of state aid from the French government, and also reflected a EUR 241m write-down from La Banque Postale’s role in the European banking bailout of the Greek economy.
Group expenses were up just 0.4% as the result of a “continuous policy” of cost control, while capital investment rose by almost EUR 300m to EUR 1.33bn as the group worked to improve the quality of its mail services, the capacity of its express network across Europe and the IT network at La Banque Postale.
The year also saw acquisitions including mail firm Sogec Mediaprism, telecommunications firm Debitel and the German courier-express firm Iloxx as well as increased shareholdings in courier firms including Seur, South Africa-based DPD Laser and Hong Kong-based Lenton.
Looking forward, La Poste said in 2012 it was expecting to continue the stabilisation of its turnover in an “environment marked by uncertainty”.
Among the Group divisions, La Poste achieved a stable turnover in its mail division, with revenues up 0.3% to EUR 11.6bn for the year.
A 3% decline in mail volumes was countered by the price increases introduced in July 2011, and through the development of new added-value services including the company’s “green letter” product and its digital mail service, Digiposte.
With service levels reaching record levels during the year – achieving an 87.2% on-time rate for priority mail against an 85% target – La Poste said its mail division achieved an 8.2% growth in operational profit to EUR 105m, including growth in its courier and business services unit Sofipost.
Parcels and Express
La Poste’s parcels and express business recorded a 7.4% increase in its turnover, to EUR 5.2bn during the 2011 year.
The company said it benefited from increased volumes and a more favourable product mix than 2010, with operating income up 13% adjusted for the year’s acquisitions, to EUR 387m.
The European operations of the Geopost parcels unit, which includes the DPD group of companies, brought in EUR 3.7bn turnover during the year, up 6.6% on 2010, with volumes up 6.8% thanks to good growth in all countries except southern Europe, which was impacted by the economic crisis.
Domestic parcel operations within the ColiPoste unit brought in EUR 1.5bn, up 5.5% on the previous year.
Retail and banking
La Poste’s retail network achieved almost EUR 2.5bn in sales during 2011, unchanged from the previous year.
The division spent the year continuing its branch modernisation efforts, upgrading 1,250 post offices during 2011, while steadily growing its banking business and capitalising on its network coverage by branching out into mobile telephone services.
During the year, the company said wait times had improved in its post offices, with 87% of customers served within five minutes, compared to 82% in 2010.
La Poste’s banking division recorded a net banking income of EUR 5.2bn during 2011, up 0.3% compared to the same period in 2010, with the division contributing EUR 369m towards Group operating income.
The company said strong commercial activity in the mortgage, loans and insurance segments helped achieve this stability during a difficult time in the financial markets.
