PostNL wants to cut two to three hundred full-time jobs this year. The postal service is also taking other measures to save costs. About 37,000 people work at PostNL.
In total, the company is setting aside 20 million euros for the reorganization. The cuts mainly affect the parcels department. Next year, PostNL must save 25 million euros and then structurally another 30 million euros per year.
According to top woman Herna Verhagen, the company suffered from high inflation and low consumer confidence. As a result, people ordered less online, meaning that PostNL was able to deliver fewer parcels in the fourth quarter than a year earlier. The number of mail items also fell sharply. At the same time, fuel costs and wages rose.
The company saw turnover fall to 883 million euros in the fourth quarter. That is about 50 million euros less than in the same period a year earlier. Profit fell from 61 to 27 million euros.
Turnover for the full year amounted to 3.1 billion euros, compared to 3.5 billion euros the year before. The profit amounted to 26 million euros. In the previous year, the company made a profit of 228 million euros.
According to Verhagen, the challenging circumstances are expected to continue in 2023. PostNL is expecting a slight drop in volume and a small loss of market share this year.
Costs are also expected to increase. It is true that PostNL increased its parcel rates last year, but these higher prices probably do not compensate for the rising costs.
