Singapore Post registers marginal growth
SingPost Group registered a marginal revenue growth of 1.6% from S$122.0 m to S$124.0 m in Q3 FY2008/09, reflecting the initial impact of the economic downturn.
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SingPost Group’s unaudited results for the first quarter for the financial year ending 31 March 2009
Singapore Post Limited (“SingPost”) announced its unaudited results for the first quarter of the financial year ending 31 March 2009.
SingPost Group achieved a 4.6 pct growth in revenue from SGD115.5 million to SGD120.9 million in the first quarter of FY2008/09 on the back of improved performances by its three business segments.
Mail business recorded a 2.4pct growth in revenue to SGD93.6 million on higher mail
traffic, while Logistics revenue increased 11.8pct to SGD18.0 million, as a result of growth in Speedpost traffic, vPOST shopping and shipping transactions and warehousing, fulfilment and distribution services.
Growth in retail products, agency and financial services revenue contributed to the 17.6pct increase in Retail revenue to SGD16.5 million.
The Group’s rental and property related income was up 34.9pct to SGD7.2 million, mainly due to higher rental rates at Singapore Post Centre and an increase in lettable space.
Miscellaneous income was lower by 34.1pct at SGD1.4 million compared to SGD2.1 million in the same quarter last year, which included a one-off gain of SGD1.9 million from the disposal of a property.
The Group continued to focus on cost management in the face of inflationary pressures on operating costs. Total expenses rose by a slower 3.4pct compared to the past few quarters.
For the first quarter of FY2008/09, net profit grew 2.9pct from SGD38.4 million to SGD39.5 million. Excluding one-off items, the Group posted underlying net profit growth of 11.6pct to SGD38.9 million.
Read MoreA long and stony road to European postal competition
Following full liberalisation in four European countries (UK, Germany, Sweden and Finland), about 54 pct of the total EU mail market in volume terms is now completely open to competition, Alex Dieke, head of Postal Services and Logistics for German-based market research institute wik-Consult, told last month’s World Mail & Express Europe conference in Budapest organised by Triangle Management Services. But experience from these four liberalised markets showed that “it will take a long time for effective competition to arrive”, he commented. In the long-term, competitors might be able to gain up to 20-25 pct of larger markets, he forecast.
In Britain, which liberalised in 2006, competitors such as UK Mail and TNT Post had gained a 10 pct market share in terms of “upstream” volumes collected from customers but there was still no major competitor to Royal Mile for “last-mile” deliveries to businesses and consumers, Dieke said. In Sweden, where the market was opened in 1993, competitor CityMail still only had about 10 pct of the market. In Finland, which liberalised in 1997, high entry barriers meant there was no real competitor to Itella. In the Netherlands, which along with Slovakia might open its market before the official EU-wide liberalisation date of January 2011, competitors Selektmail and Sandd had gained 12 pct of the market despite TNT’s remaining monopoly, he noted.
Iain McLure, CEO of Spring Global Mail, criticised European postal operators for the repeated delays to liberalisation in recent years. “How long does the postal sector need to get prepared for competition?” he asked. In future, postal operators would have to focus on offering products in line with customer demand, better customer service and opportunities to achieve cost savings, the experienced postal manger forecast.
Spring, the TNT/Royal Mail/Singapore Post subsidiary, regularly used alternatives to national postal operators in some markets in order to provide quality services and lower costs, McLure pointed out. But he stressed: “As a broker, we are more of a customer (to postal operators) than a competitor.” Spring had been profitable for the past eight years, he noted.
Read MoreUlrich Gygi wins the Industry Leadership Award at the 2008 World Mail Awards
Dr. Ulrich Gygi, CEO of Swiss Post, was honored with the Industry Leadership Award at the 2008 World Mail Awards in Budapest. The award, which is sponsored by Pitney Bowes, was presented to Dr. Gygi by Patrick Keddy, President Pitney Bowes International.
CEO of Pitney Bowes, Murray Martin said: “We’ve been involved in the World Mail Awards since its inception and are very pleased to sponsor the Industry Leadership Award. This award recognizes individuals who have contributed to the success of our industry and helped shape the future of global postal systems.”
The Judging Panel said it recognized Dr. Gygi for his leadership and steady transformation of Swiss Post into a more efficient and cost-effective entity. “In addition to domestic operational and financial success, Dr. Gygi has also demonstrated creativity and initiative by forming strategic partnerships in international markets,” said David Treworgy, the non-voting chair of the judging panel.
The winner was selected through an independent Judging Panel consisting of seven distinguished individuals in the postal and mail industry:
Jean-Paul Bailly, CEO of La Poste and 2007 award winner
Helge Israelsen, CEO of Post Danmark and a previous award winner
Graeme John, Managing Director of Australia Post and a previous award winner
John E Potter, Postmaster General and CEO if the United States Postal Service, and a previous award winner
William Tan, former CEO of Singapore Post
Elmar Toime, former CEO of New Zealand Post and a previous award winner
Dr. Klaus Zumwinkel, former Chairman of Deutsche Post World Net and a previous award winner
Pitney Bowes will also make a charitable donation or provide funding for an educational initiative of Dr. Gygi’s designation
Read MoreSingPost records net profit growth of 6.8pct to SGD149M
Singapore Post Limited (“SingPost”) announced its unaudited results for the fourth quarter and financial year ended 31 March 2008.
For FY2007/08, the Group’s revenue increased by 8.4pct from SGD436.0 million to
SGD 472.6 million. All business segments showed an improvement in performance for the full year.
♦ Mail revenue grew by 7.9pct from SGD338.4 million to SGD365.3 million, underpinned by higher mail volumes and price adjustments. Revenue was boosted with the growth in direct mail which saw a 16.4pct increase in traffic as well as higher traffic in domestic and international mail. DMrocket, a one-stop direct mail centre, was launched during the year, fuelling greater interest in direct mail as a cost-effective means for businesses to reach out to their customers. During the year, SingPost’s hybrid mail business expanded into Hong Kong and Thailand.
♦ Logistics revenue rose by 6.7pct from SGD64.3 million to SGD68.6 million, due to higher contributions from Speedpost, vPOST online shopping and shipping transactions, and warehousing, fulfillment and distribution. A new service Speedpost Centre was launched to cater to retail and corporate customers.
♦ Retail recorded a 10.8pct increase in revenue from SGD55.6 million to SGD61.6 million, as increased contributions from financial services and retail products offset the decline in agency and bill presentment services. In FY2007/08, SingPost collaborated with new partners to introduce a variety of financial products and valueadded services. These included two new remittance services – Visa Money
Transfer and Cashome to Indonesia – with Visa and Bank Negara Indonesia respectively, and an investment fund with Prudential Asset Management. It also started offering more value-added services including five key Immigration and Customs Authority (ICA) e-services. SingPost was also the ticketing agent for major events such as the F1 Grand Prix, Chingay Festival and Singapore Air Show. Highvalue products were also offered via its shop@POST catalogue.
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