In the rain of half-yearly reports that characterize the end of July, the star of Poste Italiane shines. The group led by Matteo Del Fante closed the second quarter with a net profit up 30% on an annual basis to 324 million, which becomes 763 on a half-yearly level (+4%). THE revenues they amount to 5,521 billion (+1,7% compared to the first half of 2018); The Operating income exceeds 1 billion (+2,6% compared to the first half of 2018). And, announces the CEO, Poste Italiane is evaluating the distribution of an interim dividend.
“All the operating sectors have made a positive contribution to the growth in revenues – underlines Matteo Del Fante – while the dependence on capital gains continues to decrease. Given the greater visibility on 2019, we confirm the objectives set for the end of the year. In order to align with the best market practices, we have decided to recognize an interim dividend and we are considering all the steps necessary to start the process that will allow the payment of the same to our shareholders in the fourth quarter".
Land Total Financial Assets (Tfa) amount to €530 billion (+€16,1 billion compared to December 2018); deposits are up by €6,4 billion; insurance income rose by € 2,4 billion supported by the offer of multi-line products; investment funds increased by € 224 million. The Solvency II index of the Poste Vita Insurance Group reaches 242% in June 2019 (214% in March 2019): generation of profits, improvement of financial markets and managerial actions have more than offset the negative impact due to the fall in interest rates. Finally, the investment spending of Group jumped to € 230 million with a del% increase 52,6 compared to the first half of 2018, above all due to spending on mail and parcel automation and sorting technologies at the basis of the industrial transformation and the Deliver 2022 plan. In particular, Poste draws attention to the new sorting center inaugurated in Bologna the 16 July.
If these are the financial highlights, the operational management highlights a 12% increase in revenue from parcel delivery business. In the payments and mobile sector, revenues rose by 11,2% (167 million) both due to the increase in the number of cards and the volume of transactions (+32,6% in the first half) and to the stability of telephony. In the financial services the volume of personal loans and mortgage loans is growing; postal savings are in line with expectations and managed savings recorded an increase in funding. In the insurance sector ($%( million in revenues) we note the excellent net inflows from the multi-line business (1,5 billion in the second quarter of 2019).
In Piazza Affari, the Poste Italiane share rose by 1,65% to 9,49 euros at 11:56 am, after the six-monthly data.
