Dutch PostNL posts Q2 beat, confirms outlook (updated)

Quantum Capital

05/08/2019 07:45

(Adds CEO quotes, details throughout)
    Aug 5 (Reuters) - PostNL  PTNL.AS  stuck with its guidance
for 2019 as it reported a 24% increase in its second-quarter
underlying cash operating income (UCOI) on Monday and agreed to
sell its Postcon business.
    The Netherlands' largest mail carrier said it still expects
its full-year UCOI to come to 170-200 million euros and also set
an interim dividend for 2019 of 0.08 euro per share.
    PostNL reported second-quarter UCOI of 41 million euros 
($45.6 million) above analysts' expectations, helped by lower
outflows for pensions and provisions.  
    "The sale of Postcon marks another step in our strategy of
focusing on our core markets in the Netherlands and Belgium, and
supporting the transformation of PostNL into an e-commerce
logistics service provider," chief executive Herna Verhagen said
in a statement.
    The company, which generated 51% of all revenue in the first
half from e-commerce, said it had agreed to sell Postcon
business in Germany to Quantum Capital Partners  QTCI.PK  by the
end of the year, with no further details disclosed.
    PostNL has struggled to keep its declining mail business
profitable while fulfilling its obligation to deliver to all
parts of the country, and has frequently clashed with regulators
over obligations to carry competitors' mail on its network. 
    In February, the carrier announced plans to buy its main
rival Sandd in a bid to combine the two largest mail companies
in the country.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N20K0SZ  
    It is now awaiting the Authority for Consumers & Markets'
(ACM) final decision on the consolidation, Verhagen said.
    
($1 = 0.8990 euros)

 (Reporting by Pawel Goraj, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and
Tomasz Janowski)
 ((pawel.goraj@tr.com ; +48 58 7720560; Reuters Messaging:
pawel.goraj.reuters.com@reuters.net ));))