Earnings double at An Post as revenues close in on €1bn

The revenues were €992.9m last year, up 4pc from a year earlier. An Post recorded a 14pc jump in e-commerce parcels, while higher footfall at local post offices contributed to an 11pc rise in retail income. The company operates 901 post offices across the country.

A number of price increases were also introduced during the year, which An Post said offset a 6.1pc decline in letter volumes.

CEO David McRedmond justified the increase in the price of stamps on the basis that the postal system is a fixed-cost network. “If I delivered three letters to you this time last year and I’m just delivering two to you now, I’m not saving any money. The cost of delivery is the same,” he told the Irish Independent.

He added that prices rises are now pretty standard across Europe, and that An Post’s are “still much at, or below, EU average”.

Mr McRedmond revealed that the Government has contacted An Post in relation to the reduction in TV licence sales, “so we are having discussions with them”.

“Financially, we now make a loss on the collections and that’s nothing to do with us. That’s because of the well-publicised issues around RTÉ and people not paying for licences,” he said.

“You’ll see in our numbers we issued 15pc fewer licences last year and the real impact was from the middle of last year when we were seeing reductions of about 25pc. It’s kind of levelled out now: people are still buying TV licences and paying for them.”

An Post sold its investment in the National Lottery, along with other shareholders, for €17.4m last year. The original investment was €25m, but over the course of its involvement An Post got €46m in cash dividends.

“The accounting loss of €16.7m in these financial statements reflects a deficit against a carrying value at the time of the disposal,” its annual report explained.

Last year, too, the company relocated its headquarters and 900 staff from the GPO on O’Connell Street to the EXO Building at North Wall Quay in the docklands.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) doubled year-on-year to €38.5m.

An Post recorded a net profit before exceptional items of €9m without any state subsidy. It also repaid a €30m loan to the Government over the year, with the group’s debt dropping to €39m.

Post offices, which provide banking services for AIB and Bank of Ireland customers, delivered €2.4bn in transaction value across the year. This reflected 6 million transactions in total, a jump of 13pc on 2022 levels.

An Post says it added 23,000 new current-account customers in 2023, while the value of its loans rose by almost a quarter. About 52.7 million parcels were delivered in 2023, reflecting an average of 23 parcels per address. This was up 14pc from a year earlier.

The number of parcel returns also rose by 27pc in 2023, An Post reported.

Growth of 18pc has already been recorded so far this year, with Irish companies accounting for the same parcel volume as Amazon, according to An Post. It says about €60m was collected in Customs revenue on behalf of the State.

The State Savings deposits, which An Post manages on behalf of the NTMA, stood at €25bn.

“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,” Mr McRedmond said.

“Financial year 2023 shows a doubling of the Ebitda operating performance. This represents a return to more normalised profit in the post-pandemic period, ” added chief financial officer Peter Quinn.

The company says it has introduced a new strategy for the coming five years, with a focus on growing the e-commerce business, reducing emissions, and introducing guaranteed next-day delivery.

An Post plans to invest €200m from internally generated resources in its ‘Green Light 2028’ plan, and envisages new revenue generation of €260m-€300m to offset declining letter volumes. It says it is on target to become a €1bn company with €100m Ebitda by 2028.