PostNL was down sharply on the Amsterdam stock exchange on Monday, after announcing a heavier-than-expected loss for the first quarter of the year.
The Dutch postal operator posted a normalized operating loss (Ebit) of nine million euros for the first three months of the 2024 financial year, compared with a profit of seven million euros a year earlier.
According to a consensus provided by the group itself, analysts were anticipating a smaller loss of around two million euros.
Sales fell by 2% to 765 million euros, again below expectations, which were targeting revenues of 796 million.
In a press release, PostNL explains that the increase in its parcel delivery business (+4.6% in volume) was unable to offset the fall in its mail business (-12.5%).
The company also says it has suffered from the impact of wage increases, with the latest collective agreement with staff providing for a rise of at least 19% in salaries over the period 2024-2025.
The group nevertheless confirmed its annual forecasts, still targeting normalized Ebit of between 80 and 110 million euros this year, with cash flow ranging from zero to 40 million euros.
At 11:15 am, the share price had fallen by almost 5%, bringing its decline since the start of the year to over 12%.
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PostNL N.V. specializes in supplying mail, parcels and e-commerce services. The company also provides services in the area of data and document management, direct marketing and fulfilment. Net sales (including intragroup) break down by activity as follows:
- parcel delivery (58.3%): in 2023, PostNL N.V. delivered 343 million parcels in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg;
- mail delivery in the Netherlands (35.4%): 1,745 million postal items processed in 2023;
- other (6.3%).
Net sales are distributed geographically as follows: the Netherlands (85.3%), Europe (8.5%) and other (6.2%).
POSTNL N.V. 
