11 Sep 2017

NZ Post returns mail operation to profitability

2:48 pm on 11 September 2017

New Zealand Post's full-year profit has fallen by a third after it reduced its stake in KiwiBank, but its mail operation is again profitable.

NZ Post post box

Photo: 123RF

The group reported a net profit of $93 million for the year ended June compared with $141 million the year before.

The lower profit was because of the sale of nearly half of NZ Post's stake in KiwiBank to the Superannuation Fund and ACC.

However, NZ Post's profit from its remaining businesses nearly tripled to $27m.

It said a surge in parcel volumes, driven by online buying, helped to offset continuing declines in letter volumes.

NZ Post chief executive David Walsh said new technology and a move to three-day-a-week mail deliveries had helped to cut costs in the mail business, and home deliveries from online shopping was proving to be more significant.

"We are so well placed as the best home deliverer to capture that growth, which is expected to double over the next three or four years."

Mr Walsh said NZ Post would be looking to potential alliances with retailers to become their preferred deliverer.

NZ Post paid the government a dividend of $105m, most of which is the proceeds of the Kiwibank sale.

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