MaltaPost plc - Full-Year Results

On 6 December 2013, MaltaPost plc published its preliminary full-year results for the financial year ended 30 September 2013.

Performance Overview

Turnover during the period under review grew by 2.5% to a record €21.6 million as the growth in the e-commerce business continued to increase and offset the declining trend in traditional mail. Nonetheless, the 5.4% increase in costs of sales (largely comprising employee wages) to €10.99 million offset the aforementioned growth in revenue. It is also noteworthy to highlight that direct costs are at their highest level.

As a result, the gross profit of MaltaPost during the financial year under review dropped by 0.4% to €10.65 million with the gross profit margin similarly easing to 49.2% from 50.6% in the previous financial year.

Administrative expenses increased by 2.5% to €7.9 million. Similarly, depreciation and amortisation increased by 4.3% to €0.96 million. This led to a 13.9% decrease in operating profit to €1.7 million. The Directors noted that the comparable figure comprise undisclosed one-off gains which were not repeated during the financial year under review. Furthermore, the financial performance of MaltaPost is still being impacted by the recent changes in the inter-operator fees  for cross border mail under the revised Universal Postal Union (UPU) framework.

After accounting for €0.23 million in finance income, MaltaPost’s pre-tax profit for the financial year ended 30 September 2013 amounted to €1.95 million representing a 5.4% drop from the previous year’s comparable figure. The tax expense amounted to €0.69 million (marginal tax rate of 35%), representing a 5.9% drop from the previous comparable charge. As a result, the net profit for the twelve months ended 30 September 2013, net profit dropped by 5.2% to €1.26 million which translates into an earnings per share of €0.0373 (FY2012: €0.041).

The Statement of Financial Position shows a 5% increase in total assets to €30.4 million largely reflecting an improvement in the liquidity position of the Company. Meanwhile, total liabilities only increased by 2.9% to €13.8 million mainly due to a similar increase in trade payables. Total equity also increased by 6.8% to €16.6 million reflecting the reinvested dividend through the scrip dividend of January 2013.

Outlook

The Directors expect traditional mail volumes to continue declining and thereby impacting the financial sustainability of this part of the business which is driven by the regulatory obligation to provide a Universal Service mail network. As such, the Company continues to direct its focus towards a variety of alternative product offerings and service models including financial services, document management and hybrid mail. The Board believes this course of action is the most effective response to counter the impact of declining traffic volumes in the traditional postal market.

Dividend

The Directors recommended an unchanged net dividend of €0.04 per share to all shareholders as at the close of trading on 10 December representing a payout ratio of 107%. This dividend, which is subject to shareholder approval at the upcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM) scheduled to be held on 15 January 2014, will be paid of 25 January 2014.

The Board is also recommending to the AGM that shareholders will have the option to receive the dividend either in cash or by the issue of new shares at the attribution price of €1.07 per share.

Download 

MaltaPost plc – Preliminary full-year results for the financial year ended 30 September 2013.