An Post delivers higher revenues and profits for 2023

An Post has today delivered revenue growth of 4% for 2023 despite a 6.1% decline in traditional letter volumes last year.

An Post said its revenues rose from €888.1m in 2022 to €922.9m in 2023, on the back of strong parcel growth of 14%, increased Post Office network footfall and retail income growth of 11% as well as “carefully” managed price increases.

As it held its AGM at its new Exo Building headquarters in Dublin city centre, An Post said its EBITDA doubled from €18.6m in 2022 to €38.5m in 2023, which resulted in a net profit for the year of €9m before exceptional items, without any state subsidy.

An Post said it had repaid a €30m transformation loan to the Government from its positive cash flow, reducing overall debt from €82m to €39m.

It said its balance sheet ended the year on a sound financial footing with total equity of €735m, which it said puts it in a “robust position” to execute phase two of its transformation strategy between 2024-2028.

The company’s 901 post offices around the country delivered €2.4 billion in transaction value across 1.6 million customer transactions, up 13% on 2022.

It saw over 23,000 new current account customers last year, while the volume of An Post Money Loans rose by 23%. State Savings deposits, on behalf of the NTMA, remained strong at €25 billion, it added.

The An Post AGM heard that the company delivered 52.7 million parcels last year, an increase of 14% and an average of 23 parcels per address, compared to 10 parcels per address in 2019.

It also handled 27% more parcel returns from customers back to e-tailers in 2023, and reported a 98% Customs compliance for parcels from outside the EU, while €60m was collected in Customs revenue on behalf of the State.

An Post said that 2024 is already seeing parcel growth of 18%, with Irish companies now accounting for the same parcel volume as Amazon, the largest global e-tailer.

Now the largest EV fleet operator in Ireland, An Post said it will achieve net-zero target by 2030 and reach its 2025 target of 50% emissions reduction ahead of time.

The majority of its HGV fleet will be converted to cleaner HVO fuel with a 91.8% reduction in carbon. A further 750 electric vehicles are already on order for 2024, to replace diesel vans.

An Post sold its investment in the National Lottery last year, along with other shareholders, for €17.4m. Originally the investment was €25m and over the course of the life of the investment the company received €46m in cash dividends.

“An Post is a vibrant commercial business that I am proud to say has returned to growth and positive cash-flow with improved profitability, having completed the first phase of our company transformation, delivering on our key strategic objectives, and all with no State subsidy,” David McRedmond, CEO of An Post, said at the AGM.

“I’m excited to embark on phase two of our transformation with our new Green Light Strategy 2028. This will focus our activities for the next five years and see an acceleration of An Post’s transformation into a Digi Corp as we leverage our digitally connected workforce in every community, our rich data, and the company’s increasing technology capability,” the CEO said.

“We intend to continue to deliver for the people and businesses in Ireland while remaining committed to our core purpose to act for the common good, now and for generations to come,” he added.