PostNL beats Q2 profit forecast on election boost, higher prices
Recasts, adds share reaction in paragraph 2, analyst comment in paragraph 8, Dutch mail volumes in paragraph 9
By Olivier Cherfan
Aug 5 (Reuters) -Dutch postal firm PostNL PTNL.AS beat expectations for second-quarter operating profit on Monday, supported by higher prices and an election-related boost to domestic mail volumes.
Its shares fell initially following a miss in parcel volumes, but quickly reversed course to trade 5.2% higher by 0837 GMT.
PostNL, which delivers parcels and letters across Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, said its normalised operating earnings were stable year-over-year at 18 million euros ($19.7 million), ahead of analysts' consensus of 14 million.
It still expects its annual operating profit to come between 80 million and 110 million euros and free cash flow to be between a break-even and positive 40 million euros this year.
"We are continuing to adjust our operations and offerings with a consistent focus on customer excellence, strict cost control and capacity management, aiming at a step-by-step margin expansion," CEO Herna Verhagen said in a statement.
The group's parcel volumes grew 6% during the quarter, driven by 29% growth in the international segment, but were below the 7% growth expected by analysts.
PostNL cited an unfavourable shift in the price mix and a negative weather impact on e-commerce, particularly fashion, as reasons for the softer domestic parcel volumes which were broadly flat compared to last year.
"The solid performance was driven by a continuation of existing trends, including strong international parcel volume growth, while mail volumes were positively impacted by the elections," KBC Securities wrote in a note.
PostNL said Dutch mail volumes were down 1.3% in the second quarter, including a positive effect related to the European Parliament elections in June. Excluding the election boost, the volumes fell 5.9%.
($1 = 0.9119 euros)
Reporting by Olivier Cherfan in Gdansk; editing by Christian Schmollinger and Milla Nissi
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