STA, 18 February 2020 - With the acquisition of the logistics company Intereuropa finalised, the national postal operator Pošta Slovenije plans to further expand on the markets of the Southeast Europe and make EUR 195 million in investments in the next six years.

The company said on Tuesday, after its strategic development programme through 2025 was recently confirmed by Slovenian Sovereign Holding, that EUR 457 million in revenue was expected to be generated as early as this year.

The new strategy takes into consideration the steep growth of global e-commerce, technological progress, changed habits and expectations of users and liberalisation of postal service market, which puts an emphasis on modern technologies, digitalisation, automation and e-commerce.

Boris Novak, the chairman of the state-owned company, said that Pošta Slovenije would focus its logistics and parcel services on the markets of the Southeast Europe, which was expected to result in further growth of the entire group.

One of the key points of the development programme, which is expected to secure balanced growth and profitability over the next six years, is further expansion in Southeast Europe, which was made possible with last year's acquisition of Intereuropa.

The plan envisages a total of EUR 195 million in investments until 2025 in Pošta Slovenije and Intereuropa, which employ a combined 8,000 people. The bulk of funds will go for automation and digitalisation in postal logistic centres and in transport, as well as for expanding capacities.

"We will also invest a lot in energy efficiency and sustainable development, both in terms of the car fleet and energy efficiency of the network and buildings," added assistant director Vesna Kos Tomažič.

The company will continue to optimise the postal network, and expects that its network at the end of 2025 will feature a combination of its own postal offices, franchise offices, self-service parcel terminals and other solutions.

Pošta Slovenije wants to become a leading provider of parcel distribution services in Slovenia, and it plans to generate more than half of its revenue with logistics and parcel services as early as this year.

STA, 23 September 2019 - Pošta Slovenije, the state-owned postal operator, plans to acquire 72% of the logistics company Intereuropa at EUR 1.45 per share. It is to purchase 9,168,425 regular and 10,675,965 priority shares, which totals EUR 28.75 million, Intereuropa says on the web site of the Ljubljana Stock Exchange.

This is in line with the contract that Pošta Slovenije made with a consortium of sellers, comprising SID Banka, NLB, NKBM, Gorenjska Banka, SKB Banka and Banka Intesa Sanpaolo, on 10 May.

The takeover was green-lighted by the Competition Protection Agency at the beginning of the month.

There was much speculation about the value of the deal, with the business daily Finance reporting of a EUR 40 million range, or EUR 100 million together with debt.

But the amount revealed today is closer to the stock market value of the 72% stake, which was estimated at roughly EUR 30 million at the beginning of the month.

Pošta Slovenije is now expected to publish a takeover bid for the outstanding stock in line with competition law. The price per share is also set at EUR 1.45.

Last Friday, a share of Intereuropa was worth EUR 2.54 on the Ljubljana Stock Exchange.

STA, 29 August 2019 - The logistics group Intereuropa generated EUR 80.57 million in sales revenue in the first half of the year, slightly more than in the same period last year, while net profit was up by 14% to EUR 3.07 million, shows the unaudited report published on Thursday.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were up 3% to EUR 7.07 million, and operating profit increased by 2% to EUR 6.84 million.

While the group increased net profit above all expectations, as it exceeded the plan by 25%, the amount of sales revenue was 5% below the plan.

This is mostly due to some of the planned one-off deals in the air, railway and road transport failing to materialise, the company says in the report, adding that revenues were up year-on-year only in the logistics solutions segment.

In the land transport segment, the group generated 52% of its total sales and generated EUR 42 million in sales revenue, which is 1% less year-on-year and 4% below the plans.

EBITDA were 7% above the plan, which Intereuropa attributes mostly to the received payment of a years-old claim based on a court settlement.

Labour costs in the first half of the year were up by 1% compared to the same period last year, with a growth of average labour costs per employee having the largest impact.

At the end of June, the group employed 1,359 workers, which is 32 more than at the end of last December. This is due to the direct hiring of some workers who had previously worked for the group through temping agencies.

The group's operating profit amounted to EUR 3.8 million, or 2% more than in the first half of 2018, while net financial debt of the group was down by 10% compared to the end of last year to EUR 53.9 million.

The core company Intereuropa, based in Koper, saw its sales revenue increase by 1% to EUR 57.14 million, while net profit surged by 30% to EUR 2.96 million.

The core company's EBITDA and operating profit were meanwhile down by 2% and 4% to EUR 4.95 million and EUR 2.79 million, respectively.

The report notes that EUR 691,000 in turnover with Intereuropa shares had been generated on the Ljubljana Stock Exchange (LJSE) in the first half of the year, which is more than 25% less year-on-year.

In the January-June period, the share lost 2.3% of its value on the LJSE.

1.6m net loss on 150m in sales for 2017.