bpost: 2019 to be a 'challenging year' - shares dive

(CercleFinance.com) - Belgian postal company bpost said that a series of challenges will have an impact on its profitability next year, which has sent the group's shares down 20% this morning, despite it confirming its 2018 outlook on Tuesday.


This morning, bpost confirmed that it expects to report normalised EBITDA at the lower end of a range of 560 million euros-600 million euros for 2018, with the group announcing the payment of an interim dividend of 1.06 euro per share.

These numbers were "in line," analysts said, although 2019 is likely to be tough, professionals noted.

In its statement, bpost said it expects 2019 to be a "challenging year" for the company, not only because consumer behaviour continues to change fast, but also because the postal operator is trying to keep the "workload in balance," improve the appeal of operational jobs and boost purchasing power, it said.

It shares fell to a multi-year low of 9 euros, with investors clearly worried about the group's outlook.

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