Lithuania achieves profitable first half
Lithuania Post has returned to the black in the first half of the year, thanks to both an increase in sales and the company’s cost-cutting efforts. The postal service in the largest of the Baltic Republics made LTL 2.6m (EUR 753,000) net profit during the six months up to the end of June 2014, compared to a LTL 4.5m (EUR 1.3m) loss in the same period last year.
The company said its revenue increased 2.3% year-on-year during the half, or by LTL 97m (EUR 28m), while operating costs fell by 5.3% compared to the same period in 2013.
Among the business activities, Lithuania Post’s postal services grew income by 3.1% year-on-year during the half, while financial/brokerage services saw growth of 5.3%.
Other services also achieved growth of 5.3%.
Lina Minderienė, the Lithuania Post chief executive, said the goal for the second half of the year was to further increase sales.
She said: “The first half-year was really successful to Lithuania Post. Income from sales has been growing in recent years, and we have been striving for high performance levels; consequently, financial results achieved this year have exceeded the ones recorded last year during the same period.”
Growth
Last year marked the first year Lithuania’s postal markets were fully open to competition. For the full year, the company was profitable thanks to the profitable second half of the year, earning a LTL 1.6m (EUR 463,000) net profit.
It saw the company recording annual revenue growth of 5.8%, to LTL 201.7m (EUR 58.4m), mainly thanks to the sending of parcels, which saw a 15.9% year-on-year increase, while financial services achieved 27.5% growth compared to 2012 partly thanks to the addition of the company’s PayPoint network of on-street postal banking outlets.
The company has been seeing traditional postal volumes calling, as more people use electronic channels for communications,
Lithuania Post is in the process of building a large new sorting facility to increase the capacity it has available ten-fold, particularly to help the growth in parcels and e-commerce.
The company’s network of LP Express 24 parcel terminals, where customers can pick up or drop off parcels away from home, is steadily expanding, and this month has added new payment functions.
The parcel terminals run by Lithuania Post’s Baltic Post subsidiary now not only allow the sending or receiving of parcels, but also allow customers to pay for purchases made online, and return items to retailers.
“LP Express 24 self-service parcel terminals are the perfect tool for both receiving items and returning them, which saves time,” said Baltic Post chief executive Domas Sabaitis.
“Residents no longer have to adapt their lives for the benefit of the courier or postal service, withdrawal or return of items can be carried out at the most convenient time.”
