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bpost SA/NV

Earnings Release Nov 3, 2014

3922_rns_2014-11-03_6e160689-7b93-455c-b72d-fae4567ed5aa.pdf

Earnings Release

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Interim financial report third quarter 2014

Investor presentation

Koen Van Gerven, CEO Pierre Winand, CFO

Brussels – November, 4th 2014

Investor presentation - Interim financial report 3Q14

Financial Calendar

More on www.bpost.be/ir

04.12.2014 (17:45 CET) Results first 10 months 2014

08.12.2014 Ex-dividend date (interim dividend)

10.12.2014 Dividend payment date

16.03.2015 (17:45 CET) Annual results FY2014 06.05.2015 (17:45 CET) Quarterly results 1Q15

13.05.2015 Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders

18.05.2015 Ex-dividend date

20.05.2015 Payment date of the dividend 06.08.2015 (17:45 CET) Quarterly results 2Q15

05.11.2015 (17:45 CET) Quarterly results 3Q15

03.12.2015 (17:45 CET) Results first 10 months 2015

Disclaimer

This presentation is based on information published by bpost in its Third Quarter 2014 Interim Financial Report, made available on November, 3rd at 5.45pm CET on www.bpost.be/ir . This information forms regulated information as defined in the Royal Decree of 14 November 2007. The information in this document may include forward-looking statements1, which are based on current expectations and projections of management about future events. By their nature, forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future whether or not outside the control of the Company. Such factors may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Accordingly, no assurance is given that such forward-looking statements will prove to have been correct. They speak only as at the date of the Presentation and the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect actual results, changes in assumptions or changes in factors affecting these statements. This material is not intended as and does not constitute an offer to sell any securities or a solicitation of any offer to purchase any securities.

Highlights of 3Q14

  • Operating income (revenues) at € 569.2m, stable organically versus last year but negatively impacted by building sales being € 7.7m lower than the same quarter last year during which a sizeable property was sold.
  • Improved underlying Domestic Mail volume decline at -4.3% (-4.9% in 1H14) helped in part by one-off mailings by some customers but still impacted by trends already observed in e-substitution and advertising mail sales, resulting in -4.7% year-to-date. Reported decline for the quarter stood at -4.6% (the underlying figure eliminates the impact of one less working day in the quarter).
  • Domestic parcels volume up 10.3% (+5.2% in 1H14) helped by strong performance of e-commerce customers, first signs of recovery in C2C and some one-off actions. International parcels grew solidly by € 10.6m, bringing total organic parcels growth to € 13m.
  • Slight organic growth in Additional sources of revenues of € 1.4m.
  • Costs (excluding transport) down € 7.2m organically compared to 3Q13. Underlying FTE reduction of 840, in line with expectations.
  • EBITDA margin stable versus 3Q13 at € 104.4m or 18.3%, in line with expectations, impacted by non-operational items such as lower building sales and restructuring charges.
  • Net profit of bpost S.A./N.V. under BGAAP for the first 9 months at € 218.1m.

3Q14 EBITDA in line with outlook. Lower gains on building sales compared to 3Q13 when one sizeable property was sold

Normalized1, € million

Scope elements affecting results: small bolt-on acquisitions relating to international parcels activities

Topic Description High-level impact
e
p
Acquisition of
Gout
International
BV
and
BEurope

In Jan. 2014, Landmark Global Inc.
acquired 100% of the shares of Gout and
BEurope
both based in the Netherlands

Both companies offer import services for
customers looking to sell their products
in Europe. This includes customs
clearance services, warehousing, pick &
pack and last mile delivery

Additional operating income of

1.7m and additional operating
expenses of €
1.5m in 3Q14
o
c
s
n
s i
e
g
n
a
h
Acquisition of
Ecom
Landmark Global Inc. acquired 100% of

the shares of Ecom
Ltd in February 2014
Import services for goods in UK
Additional operating income of


0.5m and additional operating
expenses of €
0.5m in 3Q14
C Acquisition of
Starbase

Landmark Global Inc. acquired 100% of
the shares of Starbase
in February 2014
(based in US)

Import services for goods in the US

Additional operating income of

0.3m and additional operating
expenses of €
0.3m in 3Q14

5

Summary of key financials 3Q14

€ million

Reported Normalized1
3Q13 3Q14 3Q13 3Q14 % change
Total operating income (revenues) 566.6 569.2 566.6 569.2 0.5%
Operating expenses 462.7 464.7 462.7 464.7 -0.4%
EBITDA 103.9 104.4 103.9 104.4 0.6%
Margin (%) 18.3% 18.3% 18.3% 18.3%
EBIT 81.5 82.9 81.5 82.9 1.8%
Margin (%) 14.4% 14.6% 14.4% 14.6%
Profit before tax 80.6 79.8 80.6 79.8 -1.0%
Income tax expense 26.9 27.0 26.9 27.0
Net profit 53.8 52.7 53.8 52.7 -1.9%
FCF (2.5) (38.5) (2.5) (38.5) -
bpost S.A./N.V. net profit (BGAAP) 44.9 46.6 44.9 46.6 3.9%
Net Debt/ (Net cash), at 30 September (535.4) (645.9) (535.4) (645.9) 20.6%

Total operating income (revenues) of € 569.2m in 3Q14, stable on an organic basis. 3Q13 revenues included disposal proceeds of € 11.4m for one large property.

Normalized1, € million

3Q13 Scope² Organic 3Q14 % Org
Transactional mail 212.5 - -3.1 209.3 -1.5%
Domestic mail Advertising mail 60.5 - -2.2 58.3 -3.6%
Press 75.4 - -1.1 74.3 -1.5%
Domestic parcels³ 31.9 - 3.4 35.2 10.3%
Parcels International parcels 22.2 1.9 10.6 34.8 47.9%
Special logistics 3.9 - -1.0 2.9 -25.6%
International mail 45.5 0.0 3.0 48.5 6.6%
Additional sources Valued added services 23.5 -1.2 0.6 22.9 2.5%
of revenues Banking and financial 51.8 - -1.3 50.6 -2.3%
Others 25.5 1.8 -0.9 26.4 -3.5%
Corporate 13.8 - -7.9 6.0 -56.5%
TOTAL 566.6 2.5 0.1 569.2 0.0%

1 Normalized figures are neither audited nor have been subject to a limited review

² Scope including Gout International BV, Beurope, Ecom and Starbase

³ Defined as domestic and Belgian in- and outbound

Better Domestic Mail underlying volume decline at -4.3% helped by some one-off actions from customers and no new aggressive e-substitution measures.

Normalized1 total operating income (revenues), € million

1 Normalized figures are neither audited nor have been subject to a limited review

2 2Q14 was impacted by elections. In 3Q14 we have 1 business working day less and in 4Q14 we will have 1 business working day more compared to 2013.

Continued growth of international parcels. Strong volume performance in domestic parcels.

Normalized1 total operating income (revenues), € million

1 Normalized figures are neither audited nor have been subject to a limited review 2 Defined as domestic and Belgian in- and outbound

International mail & VAS performing well, partly offset by Banking & Financial.

Normalized1 total operating income (revenues), € million

Cost savings in other OPEX offset by increase in transport costs. Personnel costs impacted by one off elements and delays in holiday taking.

Operating expenses excl. depreciation and amortization, Normalized1, € million

  • Reported FTE reduction of 1,092 FTE (€ -13.3m)
  • However, delays in holiday taking impacted costs (€ +2.9m provisioned). The underlying reduction of FTE is therefore estimated at 840 FTE.
  • Mix impact of € +0.2m due to lesser use of students and higher use of interims.
  • Price effect negative at € +3.3m, mainly due to merit increases, other premiums and CLA impact (€ +2.0m as announced).
  • Other effects relating to restructuring charges (€ +3.1m) and employee benefits (€ +1.8m).
€ million 1Q14 2Q14 3Q14
Volume (#FTE, underlying) -1,037 -1,061 -840
Volume -13.6 -12.7 -10.4
Mix effect -0.9 0.2 0.2
Price effect 2.6 5.0 3.3
Other 3.6 3.0 4.6
Restructuring 3.1
Total -8.3 -4.5 0.8
  • Increase in transport costs mainly volume driven (increase in international activities), including one-offs for € +1.5m.
  • Decrease in rental costs (fleet), other goods, energy delivery and publicity costs, partly compensated by the increase in maintenance & repairs (fleet and facilities).
  • Mainly decrease in other operating charges (impacted by oneoff costs in September 2013 related to real estate and local taxes), favourable impact of movements on provisions and decrease in material costs.

12

Operating free cash flow of € -38.5m in 3Q14

€ million

3Q13 3Q14 Delta
Cash flow from operating activities -6.7 -16.7 -10.1
Cash flow from investing activities +4.1 -21.7 -25.9
Operating free cash flow1 -2.5 -38.5 -36.0
Financing activities -0.1 -0.5 -0.4
Net cash movement -2.6 -38.9 -36.4
Capex +13.2 +26.9 +13.7

• Improved results of operating activities (€ +14.2m)

• Negative evolution of the working capital vs. 3Q13 (€ -24.2m) mainly due to the announced reversal of the positive phasing effect recorded in 1Q14 relating to terminal dues

  • Higher capital expenditure in 3Q14 (€ -13.7m) related to Vision 2020 and in particular the extensions of the sorting centres and the installation of new sorting machines for mixed/large format mail
  • Lower proceeds sale of buildings (€ -14.5m) mainly due to LY sale of a large property

Strong balance sheet structure

€ million

Sep 30, 2014 Dec 31, 2013

Sep 30, 2014 Dec 31, 2013

Based on bpost SA/NV year to date results, shareholder remuneration should be higher than last year

  • Dividend policy: pay-out of minimum 85% of BGAAP reported net profit (unconsolidated)
  • Annual dividend payment
  • Interim in December of financial year based on 10-month results
  • Final in May of year following financial year
  • The dividend payment is constrained by the net results of a given year + distributable reserves
  • Distributable reserves are being built gradually as from 2013
  • First nine months results of bpost SA/NV (BGAAP) are already at the level reached after 10 months in 2013 (corrected for the exceptional tax charge).
  • As a result, the Board of Directors expects to declare a higher dividend based on 2014 results.
€ million 2013 2014
bpost SA/NV - results first 9 months (BGAAP) 175.5 218.1
Exceptional tax charge 17.6 NA
Total 193.1 218.1
bpost SA/NV - results October (BGAAP) 25.2
Results of first 10 months corrected for exceptional tax charge 218.3
  • Exceptional dividends and share buy-backs are constrained by the level of distributable reserves under BGAAP (€ 36.7m end 2013 of which € 14.5m untaxed). Distributable reserves are currently being built primarily to safeguard the dividend level if bpost were to incur exceptional costs.
  • Capital reduction/repayment is constrained by the level of capital of bpost SA/NV (€ 363.9m end of 2013).
  • There is no mechanism under Belgian corporate law to create additional distributable reserves or capital in the specific circumstances of bpost.
  • Given bpost's net cash position and significant borrowing capacity, cash is not a constraint to shareholders' returns even taking into account capex and potential acquisitions.

Other shareholders returns 14

Dividends

Outlook for 2014

  • We reiterate our confidence to be able to report operating results (EBITDA and EBIT) in line with last year for the 4Q14 and consequently to keep the advance booked in the first nine months.
  • As a result, the level of the dividend should be higher than last year.
  • Revenues should be stable or slightly above last year.
  • Unchanged underlying volume trends in Domestic Mail partly helped by a better 3Q14 make us return to our initial volume decline outlook of around 5% for the full year.
  • In domestic parcels, we remain confident that full year growth should be above the one achieved in the first half.
  • International parcels growth is expected to be in line with the first half of the year for routes into Europe. Traffic to China related to milk powder is expected to decline.
  • Taking the phasing of the productivity improvement initiatives into account, the FTE reduction for 2014 is still expected to be at the low end of the reference range of 800 to 1,200 FTE/year.
  • We do not anticipate any material exceptional cash outflows for the remainder of the year which means that cash generation should follow the normal seasonality. Net capex is expected to be below € 90m.

Key contacts

Pierre Winand
CFO, Service Operations and ICT

Email:
[email protected]
Direct:

+ 32 (0)2 276 22 35
Mobile:
+32 (0) 494 566 348


Address:
bpost, Centre Monnaie, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
Paul Vanwambeke
Director Investor Relations

Email:
[email protected]

Direct:
+ 32 (0)2 276 28 22
Mobile:
+32 (0) 497 591 335


Address:
bpost, Centre Monnaie, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
Saskia Dheedene
Manager Investor Relations
Email:
[email protected]


Direct:
+ 32 (0)2 276 76 43
Mobile:

+32 (0) 477 922 343
Address:
bpost, Centre Monnaie, 1000 Brussels, Belgium

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