POST Group presents its integrated 2022 report

• POST Luxembourg presents its first Integrated Report, guided by the desire to come as close as possible to the requirements of the future European CSRD - Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. 

• In 2022, the POST Group generated sales of 891.6 million euros, a slight decrease of 1.1% on the previous year. 

• Capital expenditure in 2022 increased by 21.1 million euros to 171.7 million euros. 

• Consolidated operating income (EBITDA) for 2022 fell by 1.6% to 156.5 million euros. 

• Consolidated net income for 2022 comes to 30.9 million euros, up 7.6% on 2021. 

• The Group's workforce amounted to an average of 4,689 employees in 2022, representing 54 different nationalities. 

During a press conference held on Thursday, May 11, 2023, Serge Allegrezza, Chairman of the Board of Directors, and Pierre Zimmer, Deputy General Manager, presented POST Luxembourg’s integrated 2022 report. 

The integrated 2022 report offers a complete view of the company’s and its affiliates financial and non-financial performance and is set to move closer to the future European CSRD – Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. By focusing on robust and sustainable non-financial performance indicators, the publication not only reports on the POST Group's activities, but also on their impact on the environment and society. 

POST Group sales came to 891.6 million euros, down 1.1% on the previous year. This decline was mainly due to logistics and postal activities, which were affected by a sharp drop in parcel volumes from Asia, and by the continuing structural decline in mail volumes. As a result, POST Courrier sales are 31.6 million euros lower than in 2021 and stand at 167.9 million euros on December 31, 2022. 

Pierre Zimmer added: "The logistics activities we have been developing since 2017 will be more focused on the delivery needs of local shops and businesses, with a range of services such as full storage, packaging and dispatch of items to the end customer, as well as returns management." 

Launched in October 2020, POST's 5G network was intensively deployed in 2022 increasing population coverage from 10% to 94.8%. At the same time, POST also continued to expand its fiber optic network, which now covers over 81% of households. 

Led by rising sales of mobile services and ICT solutions for businesses, POST Telecom and POST Technologies more than offset the structural decline in traditional fixed-line telephony. Sales of telecom & ICT activities are set to grow by 7 million euros to reach 495.4 million euros in 2022. 

"The need for cybersecurity, particularly in niche areas such as securing mobile networks, has enabled POST Luxembourg to position itself worldwide. Specially developed by our experts to secure our own POST networks, these specific cybersecurity solutions are now part of our product catalog and are used by telecom operators worldwide. POST CyberForce currently supplies cybersecurity solutions to operators in almost 20 different countries", explained Pierre Zimmer, Deputy Managing Director of POST Luxembourg. 

POST Finance's sales totaled 30.4 million euros, a sharp increase of 8.3 million euros on the previous year, reflecting the success of the company's overhaul of its commercial and investment strategies. With its new commercial offering launched in January 2022, POST fully assumes its role as an organization promoting financial inclusion through an entry-level offering that is affordable and accessible to all, and more specifically through a responsible commitment to young, vulnerable, or senior customers. "This principle of financial inclusion also applies to business customers, particularly entrepreneurs, by guaranteeing them access to a bank account," continued Pierre Zimmer. 

To cushion the structural decline in the historic businesses of postal distribution and fixed-line telephony, the POST Group is pursuing a strategy of diversification through its subsidiaries, whose sales, up by 6.5 million, will reach 197.9 million euros by December 31, 2022. 

With 4,689 employees, the POST Group, Luxembourg's second-largest employer, operates in labor-intensive industries. Inflated by two index brackets in the space of six months, aimed at preserving the value of salaries in an inflationary context, the Group's payroll rose by 12 million euros over the previous year, reaching 391.4 million euros by the end of 2022. Added to this rise in labor costs is the unprecedented rise in energy prices, which is putting pressure on margins in the telecom & ICT businesses, as the market remains highly competitive. 

The POST Group ended 2022 with consolidated operating income down slightly by 1.6% to 156.5 million euros. Consolidated net income for 2022 was 30.9 million euros, up 2.2 million euros on 2021. 

Pierre Zimmer, Managing Director of POST Luxembourg, commented: "It is mainly through our strategy of diversification into postal financial services and ICT that, compared with the previous year, we have succeeded in virtually stabilizing our operating profit." 

At 171.7 million euros, capital expenditure remained at a significant level. Some 100 million euros went into the development of IT solutions and infrastructure to support national strategies for ultra-high-speed networks and 5G deployment, and 40 million euros into the final phase of construction of the HELIX building, POST Luxembourg's new headquarters since February 2023. 

Serge Allegrezza, Chairman of the Board of Directors of POST Luxembourg, explained POST's exceptional position: "As a public commercial establishment, POST Luxembourg carries out public service missions with the aim of ensuring access for all to services considered essential. All investments are fully covered by the company's own funds. By way of example, POST receives no subsidies or compensation from the State to install fiber optics throughout the country or to provide the universal postal service. The company covers all its investments and expenses from its own resources. In an economic climate deemed uncertain, POST will allocate all net profit made in 2022 to the reserve." 

(Source : POST Luxembourg, 11 mai 2023)

POST Group’s integrated 2022 report is available via this link: www.postgroup.lu/resultats