MaltaPost plc - Full-Year Results

On 4 December, MaltaPost plc published its preliminary full-year results for the financial year ended 30 September 2015.

Performance Overview

During the financial year under review, MaltaPost registered an 8.4% increase in turnover to a record €25.7 million on the back of continued growth in volumes of international mail services, registered mail as well as parcels and packets. The Company also reported a healthy increase in revenue from ancillary services.

Operational expenses increased by 5.2% to €21.5 million in view of the higher cross border charges and inflationary pressures which offset the one-off write-backs in certain expense items during the first half of the Company’s financial year.

As a result, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) improved by 27.9% to €4.2 million. After accounting for a deprecation charge of €0.96 million (+32.8% reflecting the additional investment in the Company’s property, plant and equipment), the Company’s operating profit amounted to €3.2 million representing a 26.5% increase over the previous comparable figure.

Despite marginal changes in the Company’s cash balances and financial investments, interest receivable dropped by 12.1% to €0.18 million leading to a pre-tax profit figure of €3.38 million representing a 23.6% increase over the previous year’s comparable figure. After accounting for a tax charge of €1.2 million (FY 2014: €0.94 million), the Company’s net profit amounted to €2.19 million representing a 21.7% increase over the previous financial year’s profitability. This translates into an earnings per share of €0.0609 (FY 2014: €0.0515).

The Statement of Financial Position shows a 14.1% increase in total assets to €35.1 million reflecting the additional property, plant and equipment purchased during the year under review as well as the 23.1% increase in trade receivables to €8.5 million. Similarly, total liabilities increased by 17.3% to €14.7 million largely reflecting the 9.2% growth in trade payables. Overall, the Company’s equity base grew by 11.9% to €20.4 million which translates into a net asset value per share of €0.561 (Sept 2014: €0.516).

Dividend

The Directors recommended a final net dividend of €0.04 per share to all shareholders as at close of trading on Monday 14 December 2015. The dividend will be paid on 12 February 2016 subject to shareholder approval at the upcoming Annual General Meeting scheduled to be held on 15 January 2016.

Once again, the Directors are giving shareholders the option to receive the dividend either in cash or by the issue of new shares at the attribution price of €1.80 per share.

Outlook

Looking ahead, the Directors noted that the Company will continue implementing its strategy of generating revenue in new areas to mitigate the impact of the global trend in declining letter volumes. In this respect, the Directors reiterated that the declining volumes of traditional mail coupled with the prevailing postal rates is making the provision of the Universal Service unsustainable. Therefore, the Directors once again made a call to the regulator to enact a commercially viable model for such services. In the meantime, the Company aims to continue focusing on improving its effectiveness in order to satisfy the growing demand in the highly competitive e-commerce sector.

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MaltaPost plc – Preliminary full-year results for the financial year ended 30 September 2015