Introduction & Market Context
Austrian Post (WBAG:POST) reported a modest 0.7% increase in revenue for Q1 2025, reaching €763.6 million despite operating in a challenging economic environment. The company presented these results during its investor presentation on May 8, 2025, highlighting that Austria remains in recession with an expected GDP decline of 0.3% for 2025, while its international markets in Central/Eastern Europe and Türkiye face their own challenges.
CEO Walter Oblin noted that the company’s performance was largely in line with expectations, especially considering that Q1 2024 had included several positive special effects such as municipal elections in Austria, pricing measures for letters, and booming Asian parcel volumes.
As shown in the following chart detailing the company’s Q1 2025 development, revenue grew slightly while earnings metrics showed modest declines compared to the prior year:
Quarterly Performance Highlights
Austrian Post’s performance varied significantly across its three main divisions. The Mail Division continued its structural decline with revenue falling 5.1% to €299.5 million, reflecting the ongoing shift away from traditional mail services. Letter mail volumes adjusted on a daily basis declined by 5% compared to Q1 2024.
The Parcel & Logistics Division, which now represents 55% of total revenue, saw a 3.8% increase to €418.3 million. This growth was primarily driven by the Austrian parcel business (+6.4%) and Türkiye (+10.9%), while the CEE/SEE region experienced an 11.8% decline following exceptionally strong Asian volumes in the previous year.
The Retail & Bank Division posted a 3.1% revenue increase to €48.7 million, with the banking segment moving closer to its expected break-even point later in 2025.
The company’s revenue mix for Q1 2025 is illustrated in the following breakdown:
Detailed Financial Analysis
Despite the slight revenue growth, Austrian Post’s profitability metrics declined compared to Q1 2024. EBITDA decreased by 1.8% to €101.6 million, while EBIT fell more significantly by 7.6% to €48.4 million. The EBIT margin contracted from 6.9% to 6.3%, and earnings per share declined by 4.5% to €0.56.
The company’s divisional EBIT performance showed mixed results, with the Mail Division generating €37.9 million (-10.4%), the Parcel & Logistics Division contributing €18.6 million (-23.2%), and the Retail & Bank Division narrowing its loss to -€1.1 million (an improvement of 59.5%).
A detailed breakdown of the key income statement indicators shows the financial performance across all metrics:
The Parcel & Logistics Division, which represents the company’s growth engine, showed varying performance across regions. While the Austrian parcel business continued to grow, the international operations faced different challenges:
One of the most positive financial developments was the significant improvement in operating free cash flow, which increased from €72.3 million in Q1 2024 to €124.6 million in Q1 2025, primarily due to stronger cash flow from operating activities:
Strategic Initiatives
Austrian Post continues to make progress with its banking subsidiary, bank99. The company expects the bank to reach break-even during the course of 2025, with Q1 already showing positive development in revenue and EBIT. A significant milestone was achieved when Moody’s assigned bank99 an investment grade rating (Baa2) in its initial assessment.
As shown in the following slide, bank99’s customer base and loan volume continue to grow, while the bank completed a successful IT migration of core banking systems in April 2025:
Another key strategic focus is the expansion of Austrian Post’s self-service network. The company reported a 14% increase in self-service volumes in Q1 2025 compared to the previous year, continuing the strong growth trend that has seen volumes rise from just 1.3 million items in 2014 to 32.4 million in 2024.
The company is also expanding its network of out-of-home locations, with plans to reach approximately 3,000 locations by the end of 2025, up from 2,600 at the end of 2024. This expansion supports the growing demand for flexible parcel delivery and pickup options.
Forward-Looking Statements
Looking ahead, Austrian Post faces a mixed economic environment. While Austria continues to experience recession conditions, the company’s international markets in CEE/SEE are expected to see GDP growth of around 3.3% in 2025. Türkiye remains challenging with high inflation (38.1%) and continued currency devaluation.
The company continues to adapt to structural changes in its markets, including the ongoing decline in letter mail volumes, moderate growth in the online retail sector, and volatile e-commerce volumes from Asia. In the parcel market, Austrian Post has strengthened its competitive position, increasing its market share in both B2B parcels (31%, +1pp) and B2C/C2C parcels (65%, +2pp).
For the remainder of 2025, Austrian Post expects to maintain its solid performance despite the challenging conditions, with particular focus on the continued development of bank99 toward profitability and further expansion of its self-service and out-of-home delivery network. The company also implemented modest postage rate adjustments as of May 1, 2025, which should provide some support to the Mail Division’s revenue in coming quarters.
Austrian Post shares closed at €29.80 on May 7, 2025, trading well below their 52-week high of €33.30 but above the 52-week low of €28.00.
Full presentation:
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