July-September 2015

1. Net sales of SEK 9,218m (9,535).
2. Adjusted operating income SEK 81m (345).
3. Items affecting comparability, net, SEK 48m (0).
4. Operating income SEK 33m (345).
5. Net income for the period SEK 22m (232).
6. Cash flow from operating activities SEK -264m (-271).
7. January-September 2015

January-September 2015

1. Net sales of SEK 28,917m (29,350).
2. Adjusted operating income SEK 426m (421).
3. Items affecting comparability, net, SEK 422m (0).
4. Operating income SEK 848m (421).
5. Net income for the period SEK 615m (256).
6. Cash flow from operating activities SEK 749m (-620).

Message from Håkan Ericsson, President and CEO

E-commerce in the Nordic market is growing strongly. Digitization in Denmark was at a record-high pace during the quarter, resulting in considerably lower mail volumes. Continued adaptations in many areas are required to ensure long-term profitability.

In the wake of continued digitization, mail volumes continued to decline, especially in Denmark. In total, mail volumes declined by 11% in the quarter, of which 23% in Denmark and 7% in Sweden. So far this year mail volumes have fallen by 9%, of which 18% in Denmark and 6% in Sweden.  This means that the decline has accelerated additionally in Denmark and now only 18% of priority mail volumes remain compared to the top-level year, 1999. It is therefore necessary to implement changes to postal regulations as quickly as possible and to make the regulations sufficiently flexible to enable essential future adaptations based on customers’ continually changing needs. This is a prerequisite for maintaining a universal postal service in the long term under reasonable economic conditions.

In August the Swedish government adopted terms of reference for a commission of inquiry into postal legislation and appointed a special inquiry official to review the postal regulations. The aim is for the official to submit the final report by May 31, 2016. We welcome this inquiry. In Denmark customers’ demand has entailed a shift of volumes from priority to non-priority mail, which means that priority mail has in practice become more of an express service. A substantial increase in the price of priority mail has been announced in order to attain reasonable economic conditions for priority letters.

The Group’s adjusted operating income in Q3 totalled SEK 81m (345). The result for the quarter has been adjusted for items affecting comparability totalling SEK 48m (0). The drop compared to the previous year is mainly due to considerably decreasing mail income in Denmark and the fact that activity in the Norwegian economy has decreased, resulting in lower logistics volumes.

PostNord continues to take initiatives as a leader in e-commerce logistics. In September PostNord organized the E-commerce Forum 2015 in Sweden, in which about 550 retail trade customers, e-commerce customers and suppliers participated. On the theme of consumer power and increased international competition in e-commerce, it is clear that PostNord has leading insight into the Nordic e-commerce industry. The e-commerce segment continues to show strong growth, and B2C parcel volumes rose by 13% during the quarter.

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Source: PostNord