Swiss Post achieved good results in many units again in the third quarter of 2018. At 317 million francs, Group profit, however, was down 186 million francs year-on-year, confirming Swiss Post’s forecasts. The difficult operating framework at PostFinance and corrections at PostBus are the main factors which continue to impact Group figures. This is also reflected in the operating profit (EBIT) of 384 million francs.
At PostBus, operating profit in the third quarter fell by 47 million francs year-on-year. This was mainly due to the agreement with the Federal Office of Transport (FOT) regarding the reimbursement of compensatory payments received unjustly. There has been no change in the difficult situation at PostFinance seen over several quarters: in a market environment with low and in some cases negative interest rates, revenue from interest operations is continuously declining at PostFinance. The lending prohibition makes it impossible for PostFinance to stabilize its interest margins in this context. “This situation is leading to a slump in profits at PostFinance, which in turn affects the Group result – not only in the third quarter, but on an ongoing basis. Swiss Post therefore welcomes the policy decision taken by the Federal Council to lift the ban on PostFinance issuing its own loans and mortgages”, explains Alex Glanzmann, Head of Finance and a Member of Executive Management.