Too early to confirm if Australia ops to break even in Q4
TPG NV interim chief financial officer Keith Nichols said in a conference call for analysts that he could not confirm the earlier expectation that the Australian operations at Express will return to profit in the fourth quarter.
CEO Peter Bakker said that “cost cutting and restructuring in Australia is well underway and we are seeing encouraging signs of recovery. We hope to break even in the the fourth quarter, but right now it’s too early to tell.”
At the presentation of the full-year results in February, Bakker said that the Australian operations at Express would return to profit by the fourth quarter.
The CFO confirmed that outlooks for the group and each of the divisions remain unchanged.
The target of 5 pct organic sales growth at Express was reiterated, with the expectation that sales will accelerate in the second half. Nichols said volumes at the Express unit have not increased due to the cyclical nature of the business.
The Mail division targets 4-5 pct growth and 2 pct organic growth in the Netherlands and stable margins. Nichols reiterated his intention to lower costs at the Mail division, with talks with unions and work councils set to continue over most of this year. The company will continue to expand its networks for unaddressed mail.
The Logistics division targets an organic growth rate at 10 pct with an operating margin at 6 pct.
For the full year the company targets a 5-10 pct rise in net profit from continuing operations.
