Whistl UK, the company which rebranded from TNT Post UK this summer, has proved that making money in the postal market is a hard slog after falling in the red to the tune of £8.1m due to “exceptional costs”.
The group said it carried more than 3.9 billion items during its latest financial year, with revenues for the year to 31 December 2013 on £575m, a 3.6% increase from a restated turnover of £554.6m the year before.
But despite the growth in turnover, Whistl UK slipped from a pre-tax profit of £5.7m to pre-tax losses of £8.1m after operating profits were hit with £14.5m of exceptional costs.
In its annual report, it said: “We continue to consolidate our position as the second largest postal company after Royal Mail. In July we expanded our end-to-end final mile service into south west London and then launched into Manchester in November.
“By the end of 2013, we delivered to 1.2 million households and businesses, had 23 delivery units and over 2,000 posties. This year has also seen our presence within packet and parcels and international services grow with a strengthened sales team. In addition we have established our presence within the logistics solutions market, winning some large contracts.”
At the year end, Whistl UK employed 1,725 staff and operates six depots located in Marlow, Bristol, Manchester, Leeds, Scotland and Belfast.
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Whistl revenue up but costs rocket http://t.co/uOg4r0rWV8 #directmail #directmarketing