PostNL: Preparations initiated for Nexive and Postcon divestment
The Netherland’s PostNL has announced that “preparations are initiated” for the divestmnent of its subsidiaries Nexive and Postcon.
Nexive is the Italian private postal company formerly known as TNT Post Italia, while P0stcon operates in the German postal market.
In a statement issued today (6 August), PostNL also reported that its revenue for the second quarter (Q2) was €851m, up from €836m last year.
Like postal operators the world over, PostNL has responding to the drop in traditional mail volumes by ramping up its parcel capabilities and adapting its business to meet the needs of the online shopper. The strategy appears to be paying off as the company’s “e-commerce related revenue” for the quarter was 44% up on last year.
On a more negative note, PostNL’s underlying cash operating income was €25m, compared to €46m in Q2 2017.
Commenting on the both the divestment and the Q2 results, Herna Verhagen, CEO of PostNL, said: ‘‘In line with our strategy to be the postal and logistic solutions provider and the focus on our core markets in the Benelux, we have decided to divest Nexive and Postcon. We have full confidence that the management teams in both countries will be able to realise their strategic ambitions, develop their activities and strengthen their position in Italy and Germany respectively. The preparations for the divestment processes have been started and we will update the market when appropriate.
“Our Q2 results are in line with the development in the first quarter with no material changes in the underlying drivers, as we indicated when publishing our Q1 results. Year-to-date, 44% of our revenue is e-commerce related, evidencing our accelerating transformation. In Parcels, we again saw impressive volume growth translating into double-digit revenue increase. This confirms our solid position in the Benelux e commerce logistics market. As we guided earlier, the investments in growth continue to impact results. The construction of our new sorting centres is proceeding as planned. Three of these are expected to become operational and to contribute to efficiency improvement towards the end of the year.
“Volume decline in Mail in the Netherlands develops in line with expectations, caused by the same drivers as we have seen before: particularly substitution, and increased competition, supported by regulation. We realised €10m of cost savings, which is lower than anticipated, due to delays in the roll-out of the sorting code and other adjustments in our operational process. We are confident that these developments will improve. However, we expect to end up slightly below our indication of between €50m and €70m for 2018. The anticipated step-up in cost savings after 2018 is well supported by several projects, including further savings in overhead and the next phase of efficiency improvements in our sorting and delivery model.”
