Austrian Post’s Q1 figures showed an increase year-on-year with revenue at €490.6m (US$579.5m).
The continuation of trends previously seen in the mail and parcel businesses continued, with a 12.9% parcel growth making up for a 3.5% decline in the mail sector.
The mail and branch network division – with first-quarter revenue of €359.6m (US$424.7m) – accounted for 73.1% of Group revenue during Q1.
The division’s drop in revenue can be attributed to the fundamental decrease in the addressed letter mail as a result of electronic substitution; lower direct mail revenue in the first quarter of 2018 compared to the strong advertising business in the first quarter of the previous year; and the structurally related decline in the financial services business.
Georg Pölzl, CEO at Austrian Post, said, “We are optimistic that we will be able to continue maintaining our strong position in this highly competitive market thanks to our outstanding quality of delivery and a broad offering of individual customer solutions.
“Moreover, we launched a capacity expansion program that will enable us to handle the steep increase in parcel volumes in the future.”
The downward trend in mail volumes in recent years continued, with a drop of about 5% in traditional addressed mail in the first quarter of 2018. Austrian Post says this makes it even more important to maintain its high quality standards and expand both its physical and electronic product offering.
From July 1, 2018, the operator will introduce a new letter mail product within the context of universal postal services. In the wake of international trends, the new product and tariff model offers the choice between time-critical and not time-critical delivery.
In addition to the priority option featuring next-day delivery, an economy delivery will be offered for delivery within 2-3 days, as well as an economy business service for delivery within 4-5 days.