MaltaPost plc - Full-Year Results

On 4 December, MaltaPost plc published its full-year results covering the twelve months ended 30 September 2012.

Financial Highlights

Revenue dropped by 1.3% to €21.1 million mainly due to the negative impact from the changes in the tariff structure established by the Universal Postal Union (UPU) which amounted to €1.7 million for the period under review. Meanwhile, the Company continues to register a decline in traditional mail volumes which is being compensated for by the growth in the packets business generated through e-commerce.

MaltaPost’s financials were further hit by a 2.6% rise in operating expenses to €19.1 million which again mainly relates to the changes imposed by the UPU. As a result, operating profit fell by 27.7% to just under €2 million.

Meanwhile, net finance income decreased by 77.3% to €65,000 reflecting the interest costs incurred by the Company on the debt it raised in view of a number of property acquisitions. However, it is important to highlight that by the end of the period under review, MaltaPost had paid back all its borrowings and its balance sheet is now again debt free.

Overall, the Company reported a 32.3% drop in pre-tax profits to €2.06 million and after accounting for a tax charge of €0.7 million, the Company’s net profit amounted to €1.3 million, representing a 31.2% decline from the previous financial year’s profitability.

Dividend

In spite of the decline in profitability, the Company maintained the final net dividend at €0.04 per share payable to all shareholders as at close of trading on Thursday 6 December. The dividend will be paid on 17 January 2013 and shareholders have the option to take up the dividend either in cash or in shares at the attribution price of €0.70 per share.

Outlook

The Directors expect the Company’s performance to start improving during the current financial year ending 30 September 2013 after it obtained approval from the Malta Communications Authority (MCA) to increase its postal tariffs (although these will still be amongst the lowest rates in Europe).

Moreover, the Company is still seeking to further diversify its revenue streams. In this respect, the Directors announced that a new subsidiary will shortly be set up with the aim of entering the insurance market. MaltaPost is also seeking to enhance its portfolio of services mainly related to document management, archiving and hybrid mail activities.

Downloads

MaltaPost plc – Preliminary Results for financial year ended 30 September 2012