- Normalised EBIT FY 2024 expected at around €53 million
- Free cash flow expected at around €12 million
- Expected leverage ratio 2024 around 1.95, providing room for a final dividend over 2024
- 10.5% volume growth at Parcels in Q4 2024 (FY 2024: 7.2%)
Herna Verhagen, CEO of PostNL, commented: “2024 turned out to be an unsatisfactory year from a financial perspective. FY 2024 normalised EBIT is expected to come in at around €53 million. Thanks to well-executed cash and balance sheet management, we achieved our outlook for free cash flow and normalised comprehensive income. We are proud that, due to the dedication and commitment of our staff, we had a strong Q4 operationally. Our favourable NPS scores reaffirm our strong position versus competition and show our commitment to customers, supporting our strategic direction.
“In current challenging circumstances, we put in relentless effort on adapting our operations and offerings with ongoing attention for our customers, while improving efficiency and capacity utilisation. Nevertheless, as a response to the financial performance and changing market dynamics we will adjust elements of our strategy.
“At Mail in the Netherlands, financial performance in Q4 was disappointing. People sent less seasonal mail in December than anticipated. A larger than anticipated shift to non-24-hour mail put pressure on margins, while labour costs were up due to staff shortages and higher than expected sick leave rates. The December result was barely sufficient to cover the loss for the rest of the year. Full-year result was down more than €30 million compared to last year.
“This financial performance again underlines that the current business model is no longer sustainable. Urgent action to adjust the USO obligations as well as a financial contribution from government are inevitable to safeguard a future-proof and financially viable postal service which is vital for Dutch society. We are continuing to make every effort to address this situation, and we have taken additional measures. The migration of non-USO mail to a standard service level of ’within 2 days’ has started and we have recently announced that the mailbox collection process will be adjusted.
“At Parcels, overall volume growth was 10.5%, and we maintained our strong market position. Yet, client concentration was accelerating faster than expected and put further pressure on margins. This is the main driver for the shortfall in results. Furthermore, volume growth in the last two months was slightly below our projections. The record-high number of parcels in the very short peak period came with a less favourable volume distribution than anticipated. Combined with locked-in costs, necessary to absorb peak-day volumes, this put pressure on operational leverage.
“As a leading player in last-mile delivery in the Benelux region, we are committed to further investments and innovation will remain high on our agenda to support the growth of the e-commerce market. However, the e-commerce sector has changed, marked by rising costs, a tight labour market, evolving consumer behaviour and client concentration, and has become more mature. At the same time, sustainability and working conditions are becoming more important. These developments will result in a more attractive and more sustainable, yet more costly, e-commerce chain. It is a joint responsibility of all players in the chain to address these challenges and strive for a more balanced distribution of value. On our end we will respond through yield management improvements to enhance customer value. We will also pursue strategic initiatives such as further building on international opportunities and accelerating our Out-of-Home strategy. Further details will be shared on 24 February 2025.”