Dutch government rejects PostNL request for financial help, media report says
21/02/2025 07:37
Feb 21 (Reuters) - The Dutch government has turned down
a request for financial support by national postal service
provider PostNL PTNL.AS to help keep its services running,
news agency ANP said on Friday.
PostNL said earlier in the day it would need the government
to provide temporary financial contribution towards universal
service obligation (USO) costs of 30 million euros ($31.48
million) in 2025 and 38 million euros in 2026.
The Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs told ANP it was
exploring measures to ensure the viability of the postal market,
adding it didn't want to take any "irreversible steps" before
parliament and regulators had decided on a way forward.
The group cut its 2024 profit forecast in January for a
second time, citing an "unsustainable" business model.
Traditional postal services in Europe struggle to keep up
with competition from other parcel locker firms such as Poland's
InPost INPST.AS and Amazon AMZN.O .
($1 = 0.9531 euros)
(Reporting by Alessandro Parodi and Bart Meijer; editing by
Rachna Uppal)
((Alessandro.Parodi@thomsonreuters.com;))