Correos de Chile back on its feet

Between 1998 and 2003, the situation of the state postal group Correos de Chile was a precarious one as private postal services started up and robbed it of market share. However, Correos de Chile appears to have turned the corner: according to general director Jose Luis Mardones, last year the group managed to stabilise business and then push on to a 10% rise in sales (30% in its packages segment) aided by the national economic climate. In 2005, CorreosChile’s turnover should be around US$115mil. The packages segment was worth 7% of business a few years ago but has now doubled; the firm expects it to do just that all over again by 2009 to reach 30%.

Its three-year plan to 2009 also outlines a 20% annual growth in sales: a brand-new alliance with Pronto de Copec for the sending of money (from 50 ProntoCopec stores as of mid-January) amongst other things should undoubtedly help. Correos de Chile has 205 branches of its own, 300 authorised agents and various attention points in remote areas of Chile. It currently has a 70% market share with private rivals Envia and WSP trailing in its wake with less than 5% each. Another couple of groups are just behind them and then another 100 private postal groups scrape around to make a living.