Itella Oyj - Interim report (Q1 and Q3)

Itella Corporation's Interim Report January–March 2012

ITELLA CORPORATION INTERIM REPORT MAY 3, 2012, AT 1:00 P.M. (EET)

Itella Corporation's Interim Report January-March 2012

  -- Itella Group's net sales in January-March amounted to EUR 485.3 million
     (EUR 462.9 million). Net sales increased by 4.8%, driven by growth in all
     business groups.
  -- Performance improved clearly: operating result before non-recurring items
     amounted to EUR 22.8 million (EUR 0.6 million), representing 4.7% (0.1%) of
     net sales.
  -- Operating result before non-recurring items increased to EUR 25.3 (5.5)
     million in Itella Mail Communications and to EUR -1.7 (-5.1) million in
     Itella Logistics, and declined to EUR 3.2 (4.7) million in Itella
     Information.
  -- Operating result in the first quarter increased from the previous year,
     amounting to EUR 21.0 (0.6) million, or 4.3% (0.1%) of net sales. The
     period's performance was affected by non-recurring items to the amount of
     EUR 1.8 (-) million.
  -- The efforts to increase efficiency started last year had a positive impact
     on performance trends.



Key figures of Itella Group                  1-3/2012  1-3/2011     2011
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Net sales, MEUR                                 485.3     462.9  1,900.1
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Operating result (non-IFRS), MEUR *)             22.8       0.6     30.5
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Operating result (non-IFRS), % *)                 4.7       0.1      1.6
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Operating result, MEUR                           21.0       0.6     -5.9
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Operating result, %                               4.3       0.1     -0.3
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Result before taxes, MEUR                        19.3      -2.4    -16.4
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Operating result for the period, MEUR            11.6      -5.6    -30.7
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Return on equity, %, 12 months                   -1.9      -0.6     -4.5
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Return on investment, %, 12 months                1.9       2.6     -0.2
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Equity ratio, %                                  46.8      48.8     46.1
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gearing, %                                       20.5      21.6     22.1
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gross capital expenditure, MEUR                  22.0      11.1    102.9
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Employees on average                           27,202    28,290   28,493
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*) Non-IFRS = excluding non-recurring items                             

 The return on equity and investment are shown as a rolling figure of the
preceding 12 months. 



Jukka Alho, President and CEO:

”The year got off to an auspicious start. While there are clear differences
between the sales trends of our business groups, sales increased in all three
of them and, in this respect, we can be reasonably satisfied with the
development. 

The effects of our cost-cutting and efficiency measures commenced last August
are visible in our performance. Profitability improved markedly in comparison
to last year. On the other hand, the changes related to letter mail and the
print media continued, meaning that we should be prepared for further measures
aiming to increase efficiency on this front. 

The decree concerning postal outlets and the decision concerning a competing
license for postal operations were approved at the beginning of March. The
decree's approach to the postal network is to view it as a broad entity, so
that Itella can exploit its various forms of service and retain the most
popular ones as close to customers as possible in a cost-effective way. 

In March, the working party of the Ministry of Transport and Communications
published its report on the funding issues concerning universal postal service.
Since the report's essential starting point is that Itella should secure
funding itself with the profit included in the prices subject to the postal
operations license, it is Itella's view that the report cannot serve as a basis
for plans pertaining to the maintenance of universal service in the years to
come. Funding is a big question if letter volumes decline steeply due to the
influence of the Internet. The report is presently in circulation for comments
and the ultimate solution is difficult to predict. 

Itella Bank commenced operations as a deposit bank at the beginning of January,
but its intense development of services continues. We believe that solutions
that support postal operations and distance selling will make our services
increasingly competitive. We now have a unique capacity and service offering
for the production and development of the services of the new generation too.” 



APPENDICES
Itella's Interim Report in full

FURTHER INFORMATION
Sari Helander, CFO, tel. +358 50 3791 819, sari.helander@itella.comDISTRIBUTION
NASDAQ OMX Helsinki
Key media
www.itella.com/financials

FINANCIAL CALENDER 2012
Interim Report Q2/2012 July 25
Interim Report Q3/2012 October 31

PHOTOGRAPHS 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 2011 amounted to EUR 1,900
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. For further information, go to
www.itella.com/group.

Attachments:

Itellas Interim Report in full_.pdf