Australia Post has announced its financial results for fiscal 2020. Group revenue totalled $7,499m, a new record up 7%, and a profit before tax of $53.6m. While total revenue grew by more than $500m during the period, boosted by a boom in e-commerce, growing losses in the letters business and increased network costs resulted in a profit before tax result up only $13m compared to fiscal 2019.
Australia Post’s parcel and services revenue totalled $5,503m, up 15%, adding $729m to the full-year result.
Domestic Australia Post branded parcels rose 25% to $2,456m. In the second half of the year parcel revenues were boosted by the continued growth of e-commerce as consumer demand grew as families adapted to lockdown restrictions and more businesses went online as their physical stores hibernated.
Costs increased over the period by $477m including higher operational network costs to support growth in parcels and AP Global, additional processing facilities and chartered air freight to meet customer demands, as well as personal protective equipment for workers.
Letter revenues were $2.0bn for the period, down $220m or 10% for the full year. Although Australia Post benefited from a 10-cent increase to the basic stamp price on January 1, the significant disruption in letter volumes in the second half adversely impacted results, with letters losses growing by 26% to a full-year loss of $241m.
“While the growth in e-commerce has been a strong driver behind this year’s financial result, we have had to make changes to ensure our workforce and network can operate as efficiently and safely as possible. The pandemic has also severely impacted our ability to deliver across the country on time. We had to make temporary changes, including new parcel pop-up facilities and chartering planes for air freight, to continue to serve the country during what has been a very uncertain year,” said Australia Post Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Christine Holgate.
Source: Australia Post
