Segment results

Income from core business under pressure

Trends in the four markets varied, with operating income in three of the four markets stagnant or declining.

Communication market

In the communication market, the three segments PostMail, Swiss Post Solutions and Post Offices & Sales generated an overall operating profit of 263 million francs (previous year: 246 million francs). At PostMail and Post Offices & Sales, the volume of addressed letters fell by 1.4 percent year-on-year.

With operating income of 2,820 million francs (previous year: 2,887 million francs), PostMail was the main contributor to operating income in the communication market. Operating profit stood at 358 million francs (previous year: 334 million francs). A decrease in income due to lower volumes was more than offset by the reduction in operating expenses.

Swiss Post Solutions generated operating income of 609 million francs (previous year: 659 million francs). Operating profit rose to 15 million francs (previous year: 12 million francs) due to efficiency improvement projects with existing customers and from business with new customers.

With operating income of 1,601 million francs (previous year: 1,663 million francs), Post Offices & Sales recorded an operating result of –110 million francs (previous year: –100 million francs). Letter and parcel volumes and the number of payment transactions continued to decline in 2015.

Logistics market

In the face of continuing intense competition, PostLogistics generated an operating profit of 145 million francs (previous year: 141 million francs). Operating income stood at 1,552 million francs (previous year: 1,562 million francs). Parcel volumes were up 3 percent.

Passenger transport market

PostBus recorded an operating profit of 29 million francs (previous year: 30 million francs). Operating income rose to 849 million francs (previous year: 835 million francs). The result was only slightly down despite a reduction in compensation for existing services, mainly due to additional income in other business areas.

Financial services market

The ongoing low interest situation is a serious challenge for PostFinance. In 2015, it recorded an operating profit of 459 million francs, 77 million francs more than the previous year. Average customer deposits declined by around 2,800 million francs as a result of targeted measures implemented by PostFinance in the context of the introduction of negative interest rates by the Swiss National Bank. In the year under review, 13,000 new customers placed their trust in PostFinance.

PostVenture15

With its PostVenture programme, Swiss Post specifically seeks out fresh ideas to develop its business areas. For the first time, PostVenture 2015 was aimed not only at Swiss Post employees, but also at people outside the company. In all, 135 business ideas were submitted – 76 by internal and 59 by external authors. To identify external business ideas, Swiss Post works with venturelab, a support programme for young entrepreneurs. Participants are closely supported in the elaboration of the most promising proposals, receiving access to internal networks and in-house Swiss Post expertise, and also start-up financing.