WELLINGTON: The state-owned postal operator made a net profit after tax of $89 million in the six months to December, a decrease of 19 percent compared with the same period a year earlier.
Revenue fell 9 percent to $467m, mainly due to the lower revenue it received from Kiwibank after selling the stake.
The ongoing decline in letter volumes also dented revenue, which more than offset higher parcel deliveries. The move towards fewer deliveries a week, designed to combat the fall in people sending letters helped see costs cut by 13 percent.
New Zealand Post sold 47 percent of Kiwibank to the New Zealand Superannuation Fund and ACC for $493m in October, using the proceeds to repay $180m in debt, and give the government a special dividend of $100m. It also paid the Crown an interim dividend of $2.5m.
New Zealand Post chief executive Brian Roche said the company had put the postal services business on a strong financial footing.
“Given we face the same challenge every year of having to combat the $20-30 million in revenue we lose annually due to the decline in letters, we are pleased that our strategy is delivering and putting the postal services business further in the black.”
