Ceska Posta grosses KC560M in 2002, down 20% Yr/Yr
Postal services operator Ceska posta grossed Kc560m last year, 20.5 pct less than in 2001, the fall being mainly due to a growth in operating costs, spokesman Ladislav Vancura told CTK today.
Costs of energy and transport grew last year and until August the company was not allowed to raise its prices. In September, its prices went up by 6 pct on average, which was to bring in an extra Kc250m in revenues. For example, the price of sending a letter or a postcard rose by Kc1 to Kc6.40.
The increase in average monthly wage by 6.4 pct to Kc13,340 did not affect the profit because it was offset by a growth in labour productivity from Kc30,430 per employee a month in 2001 to Kc31,740 a year later. Ceska posta cut workforce by 364 to 39,265.
Data on delivered mail will be released in two weeks and information on revenues probably only after an audit.
Ceska posta runs 3,400 post offices. The government wants to complete its transformation from a state-owned into a joint-stock company but is not preparing its sale to private hands.
Alongside Ceska posta, there are ten other companies offering selected postal services.