Covid-19 effect on Poste Italiane's first quarter accounts. The giant led by Matteo Del Fante closed the first three months of 2020 with to evaluate down by 30,2% to 306 million euros and a ebit down 28,6% to 441 million due to "lower revenues due to the lockdown and one-off costs to deal with the emergency", explains the company in a note.
Holds better turnover, dropped by 3% to 2,755 billion euros, while normalized revenues they dropped by 4,4% to 2,456 billion euro. Slightly up i operating costs totals, which rose to 2,315 billion (+4%) with an increase in Non-HR costs in January and February, linked to greater business activities and one-off costs of 23 million in March to deal with the emergency.
“Although 2020 performance was impacted by the lockdown, recent events have accelerated key emerging trends and confirmed the strategic direction of the 'Deliver 2022' plan. Poste Italiane faced the crisis with a robust financial profile, with a solid balance sheet and a strong ability to generate liquidity thanks to our profitable business", comments the company's CEO, Matthew Del Fante.
During the afternoon conference call, the CEO added: “Since May 4 we have seen a recovery in activity and we have returned to around one million customers in the post offices. We're getting back to where we were in February, we're more than halfway there."
Going back to the parameters, the total financial assets amounted to 539 billion euro (+2,6 billion compared to the previous quarter), while la retail net inflows is equal to 5,7 billion, driven by liquidity products in a volatile market.
As far as assets are concerned, the BancoPosta's CET1 Ratio is equal to 18% and Solvency II Ratio of the Poste Vita group it is at 226%, "above the managerial ambitions of 200% over the period of the plan", underlines Poste.
“During this crisis we have continued to support all our stakeholders, strengthening our reputation. Poste is a system operator; our role has become more important and this will result in a stronger and more sustainable business. Together, we will be up to the challenge”, continued Del Fante.
Speaking of the various businesses, revenues from the "Packet Mail and Distribution" sector fell by 12,4% compared to the same period of 2019 due to the "effect of lower volumes of mail, offset by an increase in parcels in the B2C sector", explains Poste . In detail correspondence revenue, on an annual basis, recorded a decline of 19,2%. Above all, the reduction in activities imposed during the coronavirus emergency weighs heavily, even if, the company points out, the shipment of mail from utilities and banks, temporarily suspended, resumed in April.
They go up 5% parcel revenue, driven by the growth of 26,3% to 108,2 million in the B2C sector, in turn determined by the surge in e-commerce. Parcel volumes increased 9,7% to 38 million in the quarter, supported by 22% growth in B2C parcel delivery. “B2C volumes were supported by growing e-commerce activity, including sharply increasing inflows from China since early March. In April, record peaks comparable to Black Friday or the Christmas period were reached”, underlines Poste Italiane.
As for the future, the coronavirus emergency will have a decisive influence on the economic and social context. "To date it is not possible to precisely outline what will be the new normal", for this reason the company believes "impossible to make realistic forecasts on the economic and financial evolution of the Group during 2020”.
During the conference call Del Fante clarified that the company will not revise "the 2020 guidance, but we know the targets are not achievable". The CEO then explained that the performances in the months of January and February differ from that of March, when the health emergency worsened, and that, with the easing of the containment measures "in April and May there is a slow recovery” in Italy and for the Post Office.
For the dividend on 2019 earnings, Del Fante stressed that the confirmation that, given the scenario created by Covid, was not "obvious". However, the manager defined any figure on the coupon for 2020 as "premature".
A Business Square stock on the roller coaster: after having touched an intraday low of 7,58 euros, the shares returned to the upside, gaining 0,77%. At 10.45 the title travels above parity.
(Last update at 15.26 on May 13).
