Italy's Poste improves outlook after Q2 profit beats forecast

By Elvira Pollina

MILAN (Reuters) -Poste Italiane slightly raised its full year profit goal on Tuesday, after operating profit fell less than expected in the second quarter supported by a strong performance of the postal service's traditional parcel and mail business.

Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) came in at 782 million euros ($846 million) in the three months to the end of June, down year-on-year but well above a 713 million euro forecast in an analyst consensus compiled by the company.

In 2023, second quarter EBIT stood at 799 million euros boosted by a non-cash capital gain on an acquisition.

Poste said it was now forecasting an adjusted EBIT of 2.8 billion euros in the full year, up from 2.7 billion previously, helped also by the higher-for-longer interest rate outlook supporting net interest income.

Among the drivers of the upgrade, Poste also said that the recent signing of a new labour contract, which will gradually add an average 230 euros to the monthly paycheck of its 120,000 employees, gave it certainty on labour costs.

Revenues from Poste's wide range of businesses, which include mobile and energy services as well as insurance products, totalled 3.1 billion euros in the quarter, slightly above an average analyst forecast of 3.04 billion euros.

Insurance sales rose 13% to 430 million euros.

Net of one-off items and excluding the exceptional performance during the COVID-19 pandemic, parcel and mail revenue saw the biggest yearly increase in a quarter.

"Parcel revenues have been boosted by a double-digit growth in volumes as we are increasing our market share across different customers," CEO Matteo Del Fante said.

After approving in January a decree to sell down its 64% Poste stake, Italy's right-wing government put on hold the plan amid political resistance from ruling and opposition parties.

($1 = 0.9240 euros)

(Reporting by Elvira Pollina; Editing by Valentina Za)