Posti faced a very difficult business environment in 2015. Economic growth in Finland has been non-existent, and the development of consumer purchasing power has been subdued. Our net sales decreased across all of the business groups. The declining delivery volumes of letters and publications reduced net sales by EUR 75 million. Domestic freight transport volumes decreased as the total market continued to decline. Itella Russia’s net sales were eroded by the weak ruble and the problems the Russian economy is facing.
In spite of the decrease in net sales, the Group’s operating result remained at the previous year’s level. This has, however, required many substitution measures and difficult decisions. The most significant source of satisfaction was the strong improvement in the result of the Parcel and Logistics Services business group. Its operating result turned to profit on the strength of determined efficiency improvement measures and restructuring. Going forward, we expect various logistics services to be the engine of Posti’s growth.