Eesti Post turnover up and loss down

National mail carrier Eesti Post's (Omniva) revenue rose by 7 percent last year to €141.4 million, while the company's loss decreased from €1.3 million the year before to €560,000.
In its annual report, the company's management noted that despite the rise in revenue, the growth fell short of expectations.
Parcel services accounted for just over half of Eesti Post's operating revenue, while income from postal services, including the universal postal service, made up 18 percent. Revenue from the universal postal service fell by 49 percent over the year to €1.5 million.
Estonian clients generated 47 percent of the company's sales revenue, followed by clients in Lithuania at 15 percent, Latvia at 11 percent and the Netherlands at 10 percent.
According to Eesti Post, the group's losses mainly stemmed from the universal postal service, which incurred a loss of €1.8 million, and from the home delivery of periodicals, which posted a loss of €1.4 million.
Parcel delivery services brought in €94 million last year, up 14 percent from the year before. The group's sales revenue in the Baltic states increased by 7 percent year-over-year to €73.8 million.
The volume of parcel services grew by 17 percent over the year, reaching 45.2 million items. According to the company, this growth was driven by both Baltic and international volumes, with all three Baltic countries seeing an increase — Latvia by 23 percent, Estonia by 8 percent and Lithuania by 2 percent.
Stable growth in e-commerce has also supported the rise in volume. The company said the e-commerce market in the Baltic states continues to expand, supported by growing demand and advances in logistics services.
"Although market competition has affected pricing, Omniva has been able to maintain volume growth by enhancing its services and adapting quickly to changing economic conditions," the management stated.
Omniva's international transit volumes grew by nearly 70 percent over the year, driven by increased demand from Chinese clients — including Temu and AliExpress — as well as by expanding its customer base beyond Europe.
The group's labor costs rose by 6 percent last year to €64.9 million, accounting for 45 percent of its operating expenses. The rise in labor costs was primarily due to wage increases for frontline employees. On average, the company employed 2,495 people last year.
Eesti Post, which is state-owned, did not pay a dividend to the owner last year.
This year, Eesti Post expects the biggest factor influencing its operations to be the economic downturn. However, management remains optimistic about the long-term outlook for e-commerce, even as letter and periodical volumes continue to decline.
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Editor: Barbara Oja, Marcus Turovski