The Board of Directors of Poste Italiane S.p.A. (“Poste Italiane” or the “Group”), chaired by Silvia Maria Rovere, approved First Quarter 2024 Financial Results.
Strong start to 2024 across all businesses: q1-24 revenues up 6% y/y to €3.05 billion.
Continued focus on cost discipline mitigating inflation impact
Strong q1-24 operating profit growth, up 14% y/y1, to €706m, benefitting from a diversified business model
Net profit at €501m, up 16% y/y1
Positive asset management and insurance products net inflows with resilient retail deposits
Strong balance sheet and solid capital position: dividend balance of €0.56 per share to be paid at the end of june 2024 (€729m total dividends)
Fully on track to meet cmd 2024 financial and shareholders’ remuneration targets
- q1-24 revenues to over €3.0bn2, increasing 6.0% y/y1:
o mail, parcel & distribution segment revenues at €934m in q1-24, up 4.6% y/y, with mail benefitting from a favourable product mix and repricing actions and the parcel business driven by b2c.
o financial services revenues at €1.3bn in q1-24, up 5% y/y1, supported by growing nii and growing consumer loans’ fees, in line with the business plan.
o insurance services revenues at €397m in q1-24, up 1.0%, thanks to positive net flows and low lapse rate, with improved profitability in the protection business.
o postepay services revenues at €379m2 in q1-24, up 17.3% y/y, driven by e-commerce growth (+16% y/y) and the continued structural shift from cash to card/digital payments.
- q1-24 total costs to €2.3bn2, up 3.7% y/y:
o q1-24 ordinary hr costs at €1.4bn, up 3.0% y/y with lower ftes partially mitigating planned salary increase, in line with the business plan.
o q1-24 non-hr costs2,3 to €1.1bn, up 6.2% y/y, resulting from higher business volumes while embedding inflation impact.
- q1-24 ebit reached €706m, up 14% y/y1 benefitting from a diversified business model.
- group client tfas reached €586bn, up €5bn from december 2023 , supported by €2.8bn net inflows and €2.3bn market effect.
- strong capital position: bancoposta total capital ratio at 24.9% (of which cet1 ratio at 21.3%), leverage ratio at 3.3% and poste vita group solvency ii ratio at 313%.
Matteo Del Fante, Poste Italiane Chief Executive Officer commented: “It’s been a strong start to the year with overall group revenues over €3 billion, with all segments contributing and in line with our strategy. These results demonstrate how we are executing, in a disciplined way, against our plan, with a continued focus on delivering commercial results and on cost discipline. Commercial trends have been supportive in all businesses as customers continue to see Poste Italiane as the safe haven for their savings and the “go to” place for the majority of their daily needs. Positive net flows in asset management and insurance products along with resilient retail deposits are the proof.
EBIT and Net Profit – both adjusted to account for the materially lower contribution of Active Portfolio Management (capital gains on BancoPosta BTP portfolio) in this quarter compared to the same period of last year – have demonstrated robust double-digit growth rates of 14% and 16% respectively.
In Mail, Parcel and Distribution, revenues were driven by stable registered mail volumes and re-pricing actions, offsetting the strong decline in unregistered mail, and growing parcel volumes.
In Financial Services, revenues were up 5% in the quarter excluding Active Portfolio Management, supported by strong NII and Postal Savings fees, as well as positive underlying business momentum in consumer loans and asset management fees.
Our Insurance Business continues to record positive net flows outpacing a challenging market, with a resiliently low lapse rate, coupled with improving profitability of the Protection business.
Postepay Services continues its steady growth trajectory, benefitting from the continued increase in card and digital payments use and our confirmed leadership in e-Commerce payments. Overall, all the products of this business are supporting growth.
At our Capital Markets Day, two months ago, we set out our strategic plan, “The Connecting Platform”, aiming at reshaping our business to continue generating substantial growth.
We have established ourselves as the largest phygital platform company in Italy, committed to serve the largest client base in the country, catering for both long-term and everyday needs.
This is our first progress report against our journey and it’s a strong one!
We delivered high quality results from all of our four business units, supported by positive commercial trends.
We are successfully executing our plan, with a continued focus on cost discipline mitigating inflationary impacts.
We continue to invest in automation and technology, with the objective of constantly improving customer experience and loyalty.
I am also pleased to announce that the Board of Directors of Poste Italiane and Cassa Depositi e Prestiti have approved a term-sheet outlining the key terms of the upcoming new Postal Savings agreement. The agreement will cover the 2024-26 three-year period and is fully in line with our targets as well as our aim of preserving a stable stock over the plan.
Thanks to our rock-solid capital position and sustainable profitability from our well-diversified business model, we are well-on-track to meet the Capital Markets Day 2024 financial and shareholders’ remuneration targets.”
