bpost has reported its Q4 2020 results with its Group operating income at €1,194.4m, up 7.2% compared with the same period in 2019. Growth was driven by continued strong performance in Parcels & Logistics Europe & Asia and North America. Group reported EBIT was -€5.7m, due to €62.1m of impairment charges on Press and Retail and International Mail.
bpost Mail & Retail adjusted EBIT was €34.3m, down by 33.3% from Covid-19 impacts on Advertising Mail and Proximity and convenience retail. Reported EBIT was -€15.5m, impacted by €49.1m of impairment charges on Press and Retail. Underlying mail volumes declined 11.8% year-on-year due to less advertising campaigns.
Parcels & Logistics Europe & Asia adjusted EBIT was €22.4m, up €8.6m year-on-year, and a margin of 7.1%. Positive EBIT margin development was driven by elevated parcels volumes handled through the mail network. Parcels B2X volumes were up 67.4% year-on-year, positively impacted by the November 2020 lockdown and end-of-year peak.
bpost’s North America segment reported adjusted EBIT was up €3.3m year-on-year to total €13.9m. Excluding the EBIT impact of the ransomware attack (-€9.2m), adjusted EBIT would have more than doubled to amount to €23.1m, fully driven by operating leverage in E-commerce logistics and cost containment.
Jean-Paul Van Avermaet, CEO of bpost group: “Our FY20 adjusted EBIT came in at €280.6m, fully in line with our commitment to realise at least €270m. Mail and Retail was impacted by a second national Covid-19 lockdown in Belgium in November, resulting in pressure on mail volumes and proximity retail. Our Parcels and Logistics businesses on both sides of the Atlantic continued to benefit from strong e-commerce development over the quarter.”
Source: bpost
