Itella improved its performance in an uncertain market situation

15.02.2013

ITELLA CORPORATION FINANCIAL STATEMENTS RELEASE FEBRUARY 15, 2013, AT 9:00 A.M. (EET)

Itella Corporation’s Financial Statements and Board of Directors’ Report 2012

October–December 2012

Itella Group’s net sales grew by 4.7 percent in October–December to EUR 542.6 (518.1) million. The growth was attributable to the integration of VR Transpoint’s groupage logistics business.
In Itella Mail Communications, net sales remained nearly on par with the previous year (+ 0.2 percent), whereas the net sales of Itella Logistics grew by 17.3 percent, and the net sales of Itella Information declined by 5.1 percent.
The operating result before non-recurring items amounted to EUR 12.8 (23.5) million, representing 2.4 percent (4.5 percent) of net sales. The operating result before non-recurring items declined to EUR 25.5 (32.1) million in Itella Mail Communications and to EUR -5.6 (-1.3) million in Itella Logistics, and grew to EUR 4.0 (-0.9) million in Itella Information.
The operating result during the fourth quarter amounted to EUR 9.1 (19.8) million, representing 1.7 percent (3.8 percent) of net sales. Non-recurring cost items recognized during the period totaled EUR 3.6 (3.8) million.

Year 2012

Itella Group’s net sales grew by 2.4 percent, to EUR 1,946.7 (1,900.1) million. In local currencies, the increase in net sales was 1.9 percent. International operations accounted for 31 percent (33 percent). Itella Mail Communications’ net sales grew slightly (1.4 percent) in comparison to the year before. Itella Logistics’ net sales grew by 6.8 percent and Itella Information’s net sales declined by 1.3 percent.
The operating result before non-recurring items improved to EUR 53.2 (30.5) million, or 2.7 percent (1.6 percent) of net sales.
The EUR 100 million cost-cutting program initiated in 2011 had a positive effect on the development of performance in 2012. The program continues.
The operating result improved, and amounted to EUR 39.0 (-5.9) million, which represents 2.0 percent of net sales (-0.3 percent). Performance declined due to non-recurring items totaling EUR 14.2 (36.4) million, of which personnel restructuring costs amounted to EUR 3.8 million and other non-recurring adjustments to a total of EUR 10.3 million.
The operating result before taxes was EUR 30.8 (-16.4) million.
The Group’s gearing was 23.4 percent, and its equity ratio remained at a satisfactory level of 46.4 percent.
The Board of Directors proposes that a dividend of EUR 6.8 million be distributed.
On July 31, Itella Logistics Oy and VR Group signed a sales contract pursuant to their previous letter of intent, with which Itella Logistics acquired VR Transpoint’s groupage logistics business in Finland and the related entire capital share of PT Logistiikka Oy. The Finnish Competition Authority approved the transaction on August 23 and the deal was finalized on October 1.

Key figures of Itella Group	10-12/2012	10-12/2011	2012	2011	2010
Net sales, MEUR	542.6	518.1	1,946.7	1,900.1	1,841.6
Operating result (non-IFRS), MEUR *)	12.8	23.5	53.2	30.5	49.6
Operating result (non-IFRS), % *)	2.4	4.5	2.7	1.6	2.7
Operating result (EBIT), MEUR	9.1	19.8	39.0	-5.9	32.4
Operating result (EBIT), %	1.7	3.8	2.0	-0.3	1.8
Result before taxes, MEUR	6.9	16.7	30.8	-16.4	25.3
Result for the period, MEUR	5.0	6.4	14.1	-30.7	9.3
Return on equity, %, 12 months			2.1	-4.5	1.4
Return on investment, %, 12 months			4.8	-0.2	4.2
Equity ratio, %			46.4	46.1	50.5
Gearing, %			23.4	22.1	18.4
Gross capital expenditure, MEUR	69.9	36.1	134.7	102.9	89.5
Employees on average	27,688	27,659	27,460	28,493	28,916
Dividends, MEUR			6,8 **)	-	4.4

*) Non-IFRS = excluding non-recurring items
**) Board of Directors' proposal

President and CEO Heikki Malinen:

“The trend of development in Itella’s business as a whole was largely positive during the year. We began to see the positive profit impact of the EUR 100 million cost-cutting program that we initiated in 2011. The improvement in performance was necessary, but we still have some way to go before achieving the target level. We will continue our efforts to increase net sales and improve profitability as well as our cost-cutting measures.

Our business environment is in the midst of a transition, and strong currents of change are affecting not only our operations, but also the operations of other companies in our industry. The trend of digitization is advancing and traditional letter traffic is being replaced with new digital services. The challenge we now face is to develop Itella according to the requirements posed by the business environment and the market situation.

The effects of earlier measures aiming to improve productivity are clearly visible in Itella Mail Communications, the operating result of which was a clearly better than the year before. The rate at which electronic services are replacing letter shipments accelerated at an expected pace – a trend evident in the declining volumes of letter shipments. Newspaper and magazine volumes continued to fall as well. This decline was accelerated by the nine percent value added tax recently levied on newspapers and magazines. Volumes in parcel services grew by five percent. Operations that fall under the scope of the universal service obligation accounted for 11.9 percent of Itella Mail Communications' net sales.

Itella Logistics’ net sales increased, partly due to the acquisition of VR Transpoint, concluded between Itella Logistics and VR Group at the beginning of October. The acquisition increased Itella’s net sales by about EUR 130 million, in addition to which a little over 800 employees of VR transferred to Itella. Thanks to the combination, Itella's customers have at their disposal the widest network of terminals and the highest transport capacity available in Finland. Logistics’ net sales also grew due to the positive trend in Russia, where volumes and warehouse fill rates developed positively.

Itella Information’s profitability improved. The improvement in performance was the result of both the sale of the German printing services business and the efforts to increase efficiency, carried out during the previous year.

The year saw us investing in the development of many new services. Itella Mail Communications, for example, opened a total of one hundred new automated parcel terminals and pick-up outlets during the year. The number of Netposti users grew beyond 400,000 in August. Itella Logistics invested in a new warehouse management system and freight operating system. Itella Information continued to develop the OpusCapita products, designed for the purposes of cash-flow automation, by introducing new mobile and cloud service solutions to the market. The development of Itella Bank also continued.”

APPENDICES
Itella's full Financial Statements Bulletin and the Board of Directors’ Report 2012 (PDF)
Corporate Governance Statement (PDF)

FURTHER INFORMATION
Heikki Malinen, President and CEO, tel. +358 20 452 3366 (MediaDesk)
Sari Helander, CFO, tel. +358 50 379 1819, firstname.lastname@itella.com

DISTRIBUTION
NASDAQ OMX Helsinki
Key media
www.itella.com/financials

FINANCIAL CALENDAR 2013
Interim Report Q1/2013, April 29
Interim Report Q2/2013, July 24
Interim Report Q3/2013, October 30

PHOTOGRAPS AND LOGOS
www.itella.com/media

Itella Group provides solutions for managing information and product flows. Itella operates in the fields of mail communications, logistics, and financial management in Europe and Russia. Net sales in 2012 amounted to EUR 1,947 million. The number of staff is approximately 27,500. Corporate services are delivered under the Itella brand, while the Posti brand is used for services targeted at consumers in Finland. Further information is available online at www.itella.com.