Swiss Post reports slight increase in profits
Swiss Post made a profit of 645m francs in 2015, which was up 7m francs on the previous year, while operating profit (EBIT) was up 20m francs at 823m francs. Describing its performance as a “good result in increasingly difficult environment”, Swiss Post said that the “slight increase” in profits was “mainly due to changes in the carrying amounts in the financial services market”.
Operating income was down by 147m francs to 8,224m francs while total assets fell from 124.67bn francs to 120.33bn francs.
In three of the four markets in which Swiss Post operates, income was stagnant or declined.
In the communication market, the three segments PostMail, Swiss Post Solutions and Post Offices & Sales generated an overall operating profit of 263m francs, compared to 246m francs in 2014.
At PostMail and Post Offices & Sales, the volume of addressed letters fell by 1.4% year-on-year, while the number of unaddressed items decreased by 1.7%.
With operating income of 2,820m francs (previous year: 2,887m francs), PostMail was the main contributor to operating income in the communication market. PostMail’s operating profit stood at 358m francs (previous year: 334m francs). Swiss Post said a decrease in income due to lower volumes was “more than offset by the reduction in operating expenses”.
Swiss Post Solutions generated operating income of 609m francs (down by 50m francs). Operating profit, however, rose by 3m francs to 15m francs – which Swiss Post attributed to “efficiency improvement projects with existing customers and from business with new customers”.
With operating income of 1,601m francs (previous year: 1,663m francs), Post Offices & Sales recorded an operating result of -110m francs (previous year: -100m francs). Letter and parcel volumes and the number of payment transactions continued to decline in 2015. “Despite savings in operating expenses, ” said Swiss Post, “the fall in income was not fully offset.”
In the logistics market, PostLogistics generated an operating profit of 145m francs – down by 4m francs on 2014 – while operating income was down 10m francs at 1,552m francs.
“Declines in revenue from small consignment transport and warehousing, combined with lower income in the fuel business, were more than offset by higher parcel volumes and optimized operating expenses,” commented Swiss Post. “Parcel volumes were up 3%.”
