MaltaPost plc - Interim Directors’ Statement

On 14 August, MaltaPost plc published its Interim Directors’ Statement covering the period from 1 April 2013 to mid-August 2013.

During this period, growth in turnover from the parcel business was partly offset by decreases in revenue from cross border mail due to the changes in the Universal Postal Union (UPU) fee structure.

Operating expenses increased mainly as a result of a higher labour cost and direct operational charges whilst other overheads have been contained. The announcement noted that the Company remains sensitive to the provision of the Universal services as it requires a high fixed cost network. Furthermore, in spite of the increase in tariffs, the traditional letter mail activity is still loss-making. In this respect, the Company shall continue to work closely with the regulatory authority to achieve the changes need for the sustainability of the Universal service including a reasonable commercial rate of return for MaltaPost.

In conclusion, the Directors noted that the way forward for MaltaPost lies in keeping the customer in focus by upgrading existing products and services and developing new ones. In this respect, MaltaPost needs to leverage its assets to ensure that its network can accommodate the provision of ancillary lines of business, including financial services, document management and hybrid mail. This is considered the most effective response to counter the impact of declining traffic volumes in the traditional postal market.