Record Australia Post parcel deliveries in December half

Australia Post revenue soared 10.4 per cent to $4.8bn in the half year but it warned that net profit will still only be modest over the full year

Australia Post had record parcel deliveries in December.

Australia Post delivered a record number of parcels in the in the half-year to December, fuelled largely by locked down consumers shopping online at home.

But it still only expect a modest profit for the full year.

The national carrier announced Wednesday that its group revenue soared 10.4 per cent to $4.8bn in the six months to December.

The bulk of that comprised its parcels and services turnover, which climbed 13.6 per cent to $3.87bn.

By contrast, letters continue to languish in an era of electronic communication, with the revenue down 1.2 per cent to just $935m despite a substantial 2021 Census mail out.

The overall surge in activity helped drive pre-tax profit to just shy of $200m, up from the $166.6m result in the same prior period.

Australia Post had record parcel deliveries in the December half year.

But Australia Post attributed part of the improvement to asset sales and revaluations, as well as favourable bond rate movements.

It also lost almost $70m from its letter delivery services and noted that operational costs increased 13.2 per cent as result of volume increases and Covid-related network constraints expected to continue through next year.

New chief executive Paul Graham, who took over from predecessor Christine Holgate in politically-charged circumstances after her resignation in late 2020, paid tribute to the resilience of his 37,000 workers rather than comment on the results.

“Just like many businesses around the country, we have dealt with unprecedented challenges over the past year, but the ability of our people to adapt during ongoing challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic has been nothing short of remarkable,” Mr Graham said.

“Together, we worked tirelessly to manage the health and wellbeing of our people, with isolation rules and travel restrictions across different states and territories all carrying different challenges – while our people remained resilient and delivered for our communities.”

With lockdowns over and the nation’s pandemic recovery well advanced, Australia Post said it expects that that “eCommerce will be more subdued in the second half while letter losses will continue, contributing to an overall loss in the next six months”.

It is still tipping a “modest profit’’ when full-year results are released in September.

Capital investments over the half-year lifted $28.4m to $217.8m as part of a $400m committed to new parcels facilities, as well as fleet and technology upgrades by the middle of this year.

More than $1bn has been committed to the initiative over the past three years.

Another $20m will be spent to upgrade systems to the cloud over the coming year to improve parcel scanning and tracking across the network.

While group expenses rose 10.2 per cent over the half-year, Australia Post continued to implement “business efficiency programs’’ which saw $17.1m slashed from head office support costs.