Kiwis’ love of online shopping boosts NZ Post revenue growth

• NZ Post revenue from operations for the six months ended 31 December 2018 increased by $19 million compared to the same period last year
• Share of earnings from Kiwi Group Holdings is up - at $28 million compared to $19 million for the same period last year
• Record number of parcels delivered over Christmas – 14.5 million over November and December, or an average of approximately 2.8 parcels a second

New Zealand Post today announced a net profit after tax of $7 million for the six months to 31 December 2018.

This includes a $19 million increase in revenue from operations compared to the same period last year, thanks to NZ Post’s strategy to be the best partner for online shopping, to help New Zealand businesses and the economy grow and to continue to work on maintaining a sustainable letter delivery service.

“These figures show our focus on our parcels business is the right one. Our operational performance has been a stand out for the first six months of this year and has shown a significant improvement for us,” New Zealand Post CEO David Walsh says. “The profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation is a $17 million half year improvement.

“We’ve just delivered record breaking numbers of parcels over Christmas, and more growth is predicted over the next 12 months.

“We are seeing a positive shift in our results thanks to our strong operational performance, whilst also holding costs steady. This is showing up in increased revenue, customer satisfaction and also CourierPost having the best operational courier service in the industry*.

“The six month performance is encouraging but there is still a lot of work to do as we continue to change to meet customer and consumer demand and create a viable future focused business.”

The improved performance of Kiwi Group Holdings has increased NZ Post’s share of earnings from KGH by $9 million to $28 million, compared to $19 million for the same period last year.

NZ Post’s net profit after tax figure has been impacted by a $15 million warranty settlement payment made to the Accident Compensation Corporation and NZSF Tui Investments Limited relating to their purchase of 47% of KGH from NZ Post in 2016.

Mr Walsh says over the past eight years NZ Post has changed dramatically, to a customer focused delivery business that matches business and consumer demand and delivers what people care about.

“While we are committed to providing a sustainable mail service to New Zealand, it’s the parcels business that is generating this growth, and there’s more work to come. We will continue to develop NZ Post’s network of the future so that it will meet parcel and ecommerce growth. We will keep pursuing opportunities to grow and will be vigilant about keeping costs down.

“In the last six months we delivered 200 million letters, but we are impacted by ongoing letter decline (30 million fewer letters were delivered in the six-month period to 31 December 2018 compared to the same period last year). We continue to work hard to find ways to offer a letter delivery service that meets customer needs and that we can cover the costs of. We will continue to work vigorously on creating a sustainable mail service,” says Mr Walsh.'

* TNS Kantar Courier Performance Report December 2018