Austrian Post recorded a solid operating performance in the 2015 financial year. In spite of challenging market conditions, group revenue rose by 1.6% to EUR 2,401.9m.
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The Mail & Branch Network Division achieved revenue growth of 0.9% to 1,501.7m in 2015 in a structurally shrinking market.
Once again the basic trends shaping the letter mail and logistics markets in recent years continued in 2015: The volume of addressed mail items is under pressure both on a national and international level due to the substitution of conventional letter mail by electronic communication.
Revenue growth was driven by raised postal rates as of March 1, 2015 as well as the impetus provided by the increased handling of international cross border mail volumes.
During the reporting period, the Parcel & Logistics Division generated revenue growth of 2.9% through differing regional developments. The outstanding logistics and service quality of Austrian Post served as the basis for the volume increase of 8% to 80 million parcels.
On Austrian Post’s international markets, the parcel business in South East and Eastern Europe developed positively. In contrast, the business development of the German trans-o-flex Group remained below expectations.
Austrian Post reached an agreement with a strategic investor on the sale of its German subsidiary trans-o-flex, a logistics company with revenue of about EUR 500m focusing on providing transport solutions for the pharmaceutical, healthcare and consumer electronics sectors in Germany.
In recent years, trans-o-flex was strongly challenged by the difficult market environment in the highly competitive German parcel and logistics market.
For this reason, Austrian Post assessed various strategic options within the context of an evaluation process carried out in 2015.
An agreement on the sale of trans-o-flex has now been reached with a German strategic investor who will continue the consolidation of trans-o-flex and its focus on its core business. The acquisition is expected to take place in the coming weeks subject to the approval of the German Competition Authority.
“On the basis of this agreement we have made a decision which offers trans-o-flex a clear path for its future developmentâ€, says Georg Pölzl, Chief Executive Office of Austrian Post.
The disposal of trans-o-flex led to a one-off non-cash effect in the consolidated financial statements for 2015, for which a good operating result was reported. ■