The POST Group presents its Annual Report 2023

The POST Group presents its Annual Report 2023

• The POST Group generated sales of €969 million in 2023, up 8.3% on the previous year.
• Consolidated operating profit (EBITDA) for 2023 rose by 31 million euros to 188 million euros.
• Consolidated net profit for 2023 was €57 million, up €26 million on 2022.
• Capital expenditure in 2023 was €142 million.
• The Group employed an average of 4,515 people in 2023, representing more than 50 different nationalities.
• In 2023, the Group consumed 131 GWh of electricity, a reduction of almost 1% compared with 2022.

At a press conference on Friday 10 May 2024, Serge Allegrezza, Chairman of the Board of Directors, and Claude Strasser, Managing Director, presented the POST Luxembourg Group's balance sheet and 2023 Annual Report.

The 2023 Annual Report provides a comprehensive overview of the financial and non-financial performance of POST and its subsidiaries, highlighting the Group's impact on society and the environment, as well as its ability to generate long-term value. For this edition, the decision was made to no longer present performance under the name of ‘rapport intégré’ (integrated report), which refers to the standards issued by the IIRC - International Integrated Reporting Council, but under that of ‘rapport annuel’ (annual report), in order to gradually align with the CSRD - Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. Although this CSRD does not apply to public institutions, POST Luxembourg has chosen to adopt it voluntarily from 1 January 2025.

Against a backdrop of moderate growth in economic activity, consolidated turnover rose by €74 million year-on-year to €969 million in 2023. This increase in turnover is the result of higher revenues from each of POST Luxembourg's three business lines and its subsidiaries. The strongest growth was recorded by POST Finance, particularly due to the switch to positive key rates, which doubled revenues to €66 million.
With sales of €509 million, up €14 million on the previous year, the Telecom & ICT sector is the Group's main business in terms of revenue. To meet the growing demand for bandwidth and improve performance, POST has been making major nationwide investments for many years. Launched in October 2020, POST's 5G network covers more than 94 % of the population. POST is currently implementing a fully modernised mobile network to meet the growing needs of consumers while improving energy efficiency linked to new digital uses. 



In terms of the fixed network, POST is pursuing its objective of covering 100 % of the country with optical fibre, with the network now covering more than 84 % of homes. The total cost of this project is estimated at €1 billion. Given the scale of these investments, using POST's own funds, it is essential for POST to maintain its profitability. However, in a saturated telecoms market with already very high market shares, there are limited opportunities in the telecoms sector to increase revenues further, and the main growth vector is in the ICT services market.

In 2023, postal and logistics activities generated sales of 178 million euros, an increase of 16 million euros. The year under review was marked by the continued structural decline in mail volumes, which fell by 6.2% year-on-year to 97 million letters. Revenues from national parcel distribution, logistics services and the distribution of printed communications all grew.

To support its growth over time, the Group has built up a network of subsidiaries, including EBRC, which specialises in secure cloud services, Digora, which specialises in data management, and LuxTrust, which specialises in secure digital transactions. With revenues of €216 million, up €12 million on the previous year, the POST Group's subsidiaries account for more than 20 % of total revenues.

With 4,515 employees, the POST Group is one of Luxembourg's leading employers. Employability is crucial in a context where business sectors are changing, and the Group aims to guarantee its employees the prospect of sustainable employment based on a safe working environment in which everyone can consider a lasting professional future. POST's commitment to inclusion is not limited to its private and business customers, but also extends to its employees.

The POST Group ended the 2023 financial year with earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) of €188 million. 
Claude Strasser, Managing Director of POST Luxembourg, commented: “This €31 million increase in earnings compared with the previous year is mainly due to the turnaround in interest rates, which has enabled POST Finance to gradually normalise its interest margin. In 2023, for the first time in many years, POST Finance will be able to move out of the deficit zone.”

Compared with the previous year, the Group’s net profit rose by €26 million to €57 million. The increase in EBITDA was offset by ordinary and extraordinary depreciation on buildings, which rose by €11 million. 

In 2023, capital expenditure will amount to 142 million euros. This is down €30 million on the previous year, and mainly concerns the deployment of software and telecommunications infrastructure. With a gearing ratio of zero, the Group's financial structure is extremely solid. 

Serge Allegrezza, Chairman of the Board of Directors of POST Luxembourg, explained POST's exceptional position: “The POST Group makes a significant contribution to the country's economic development and in 2023 will have passed the symbolic milestone of creating one billion euros in value. Through its purchases, the vast majority of which are made from local suppliers, including investments of €142 million, indirect value creation exceeds half a billion euros. Direct value creation amounts to almost half a billion euros, including 402 million euros in salaries and a dividend of 15 million euros to the State. Lastly, the company has accumulated 42 million euros to help finance the ecological transition in the future.”

As part of its five-year strategic exercise, POST's new 2023-2027 strategy, ‘Eis POST, eis ZUKUNFT’, reaffirms its commitment to providing local services and reliable, innovative technological solutions. The guiding principle of this new strategy is to ensure a balance between profitability and responsibility. In terms of responsibility, POST aims to reduce its energy consumption and therefore its CO2 emissions. The second priority is to promote responsible digital transformation. The third is inclusion in the broadest sense.

(Source : POST Luxembourg, 10 May 2024)