Posti has announced its financial results for 2016 and Q4. The group reported net sales for the year of €1,608m, down 2.5% on the previous year. In Q4, net sales increased 5.4% year-over-year to €457m.
The decline in sales in the year was attributable to its international operations, where revenue was down 16.2%. In Finland however, revenue increased 0.2%. Volumes in addressed letters declined approximately 7% over the year, though parcels (up 3%) and domestic freight (up 7%) showed growth. The acquisitions of Finnish cold chain specialists Veine and Kujeltus Kovalainen also boosted sales in its logistics operations.
For the fiscal year, adjusted EBITDA was down 1.2% to €127m. In Q4, adjusted EBITDA was down 0.5% to €43m. Overall net profit for the year stood at €23m, down 33.9%.
Heikki Malinen, President and CEO of Posti said of the results, “During the past five years, Posti has gone through the most radical period of transformation in its entire history. Digitization has drastically reduced traditional communication while, at the same time, the Finnish economy and the entire logistics industry have been in a recession. It was another challenging year for the Group in 2016 but, particularly in the last quarter, there were already signs of a turn for the better.”
Malinen added, “In spite of the decline in volume, postal services will remain a central area of our operations. Postal services are very significant to Posti’s profitability and we believe that the upcoming reform of the Postal Act will help extend the life cycle of traditional communication.”
Source: Posti
