Results show parcels and express business holding the government-owned firm’s finances together
Australia Post’s results have put into sharp relief its reliance on its parcels and express division centred on StarTrack.
Parcel revenue for the Federal Government-owned enterprise is up by 127 per cent since 2010, delivering a record earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of $337.5 million which is up by 20.8 per cent on last year, in an increasingly competitive market.
That was nearly twice the retail division’s of $175.6 million and way ahead of the mail division’s EBIT loss of $328.4 million.
“Profit growth in parcels has covered the growing losses in letters again in this full year but possibly for the last time,” managing director and group CEO Ahmed Fahour says as he tries to convince the Government to loosen controls.
Australia Post has delivered an annual net profit after tax of $116.2 million – down 34.5 per cent on last year as the continued decline in mail volumes pushed the enterprise into an overall second-half loss.
“We have invested heavily in our parcels business to ensure that we remain competitive and are able to support growth opportunities and I’m pleased to say that once again we exceeded our targets on our customer service performance,” Fahour says.
“This is the fourth consecutive year of growth for our parcels business which has doubled profit since 2010.
“We are focused on providing competitive ecommerce-driven logistics and delivery solutions alongside outstanding customer service.
“Our investments have expanded our parcel facilities, doubling our processing capacity, and as part of our focus on customer convenience, we will introduce Saturday delivery options for our Express Post services, including parcel delivery, from this Christmas.”
Ahmed Fahour is keen on reform of controls