Poste Italiane, revenues over 3 billion: parcels, cheaper current accounts and consumer credit boom

Poste Italiane closed a new quarter of growth with an increase that brought revenues to 3.045 billion. Margins and net profit also grew, by 14%, to EUR 706 million, and 16%, to EUR 501 million, respectively, even though these numbers are the effect of the purification of extraordinary items that have contributed to the group's results for over ten years. In this quarterly report, the management highlights the ability to achieve solid results even in the face of the reduction in capital gains on the sale of government bonds, which have always contributed to the group's numbers, although to an increasingly lesser extent in recent years. The reduction in capital gains is due to the rise in interest rates, which peaked in the summer of last year, reducing the value of these securities.

If one takes into account the role played by capital gains on government bonds, it emerges that the growth in revenue would have been 0.7 per cent, that of operating profit a drop of 8 per cent: this is because at the beginning of 2023 capital gains on the sale of government bonds had amounted to EUR 168 million, whereas in the first three months of this year they amounted to EUR 22 million; in the case of net profit extraordinary income had amounted to EUR 121 million, against EUR 16 million this year.

The board of directors also approved the new agreement on postal savings for the three-year period 2024-26: the agreement stipulates that the annual remuneration for Poste Italiane's service of collecting and managing bonds and passbook savings accounts will be between a minimum of EUR 1.60 billion2 and a maximum of EUR 1.90 billion against agreed net funding targets.

In the parcel delivery segment, revenue continued to rise (+4.6 per cent) to EUR 934 million. The operating result and profit were affected by the lower contribution of capital gains. The repricing of mail (+3 per cent) compensated for the decline in volumes. Parcel revenues increased by 10 per cent (EUR 368 million) and volumes reached EUR 71.1 million (+21.5 per cent compared to March 2023). Revenues from financial services also did well, at 1.33 billion (would be an increase of 4 per cent net of capital gains). The effect of the rise in interest rates continued to contribute, with net interest income up 8.2 per cent to EUR 590 million. Commissions on postal savings rose by 1.2 per cent, to 430 million. Growth in consumer credit was significant, with commissions up 40.6 per cent, to 62 million. Revenues from collection and payment services were down 8.2 per cent (EUR 186 million) because repricing on current accounts was reduced from April 2023, and therefore also on revenues from bills, bank accounts and Inps commissions. Commissions on asset management increased by 54 per cent to EUR 45 million. The operating result dropped to 199 million also due to higher distribution costs.

Revenues in the insurance sector rose by 1 per cent, to EUR 397 million, due to the recovery of the life sector with a reduced policy surrender rate and the significant growth of the non-life sector (+77.9 per cent, to EUR 35 million). Postepay continued to shine, with revenue growth of 17.3%, to €379 million, to which payments contributed €283 million (+13.7%). Net profit grew by 39 per cent to EUR 93 million. In the first three months, the sale of electricity and gas generated revenue of EUR 15 million, compared to EUR 5 million at the end of March 2023. There were 440,000 contracts in the period.