La Poste increases sales
The French post office La Poste increased sales by 3.7% in 2004 to EUR 18.7 billion, and registered an operating profit of EUR 523 million (a rise of 69%). The operating margin rose from 1.7% to 2.8%. Net profits grew by 85% vis-a-vis the previous year, to EUR 374 million. In postal traffic La Poste achieved a sales increase of 2.6%, in the face of continuously sinking volumes. The mail business represented 58% of total sales, whilst the parcels sector (with a 13% share of sales) grew by 8.8%. It benefited particularly from subsidiaries in the UK, the Benelux countries and in Germany
