More challenging macroeconomic environment impacts e-commerce development
Financial highlights Q1 2022 Developments Q1 2022
• Performance in first two months in line with expectations, with additional pressure on e-commerce volumes and costs since start of the war in Ukraine
• Volumes at Parcels increased by 3.9% excluding non-recurring impact related to Covid-19; overall, volumes - 19.5% due to less non-recurring volume as assumed and expected development in cross-border activities
• Volumes at Mail in the Netherlands -7.4%, with ongoing substitution in line with expectations
• Strong cash flow performance
• 15% increase in carbon efficiency versus FY 2021, further improving PostNL’s environmental footprint
CEO statement
Herna Verhagen, CEO of PostNL, said: “The war in Ukraine remains very concerning, severely impacting millions
of people. This is bringing additional uncertainty for the overall economic environment, where we also see new
lockdowns in China related to Covid-19. This results in further inflationary pressures, visible in rising fuel and
labour costs, and ongoing global supply chain constraints. The composition of consumer spending might
temporarily rebalance towards services, also due to rising prices for some goods, impacting the development in
e-commerce.
“Performance in the first two months of the year developed in line with our expectations. Coinciding with the
start of the war in Ukraine we have seen pressure on parcel volumes and higher than anticipated costs. This
resulted in a lower performance at Parcels than anticipated, with a stable market share. The result at Mail in the
Netherlands was solid with ongoing substitution in line with expectations. As anticipated, the contribution from
cross-border activities declined compared with last year. In the first quarter of 2022, cash flow performance was
again strong, further strengthening our financial position. Meanwhile, we are committed to continuing on the
execution of our strategy by focusing on providing our customers an excellent experience through the
acceleration of our digital transformation and by improving our environmental footprint, building on our strong
financial position. As always, we aim to be a socially responsible employer and partner for our delivery
companies, working with highly satisfied people in a compliant and sustainable way.
“We now expect 2022 to be more challenging with costs rising more than anticipated and less visibility on
volumes. As a consequence, we are adjusting our FY 2022 outlook for normalised EBIT to €170 million - €210
million. At the same time, we are continuing our strict approach to working capital management while adjusting
capex to align with lower volume projections. As a result, we confirm our FY 2022 outlook for free cash flow at
€110 million - €140 million.”
in € million Q1 2021 Q1 2022 % Change
Revenue 962 806 -16%
Normalised EBIT 130 33 -75%
assumed to be non-recurring and related to Covid-19 42 1
Free cash flow 159 52 -67%
Normalised comprehensive income

Environmental, social and governance (ESG)
While intensifying investments in sustainability according to plan, PostNL improved the carbon efficiency of its
own fleet by 15% in the first three months of 2022 by increasing use of renewable fuels and further
electrification of light freight vehicles. For 2022, PostNL offsets any remaining carbon emissions from own
transport and that of delivery partners, cutting its footprint to net zero.
PostNL continues to work with partners, works council and social inspection to ensure social labour practices
that comply with the relevant legal framework and are in line with common practice, both in the transport
sector and the broader economy. Parcel delivery in the Netherlands comprises a mix of people employed by the
company and committed delivery partners. In Belgium, PostNL works with around 220 delivery partners that
employ around 1,500 deliverers, of whom the vast majority work on fixed employment contracts under
collective labour agreements, in safe and compliant working conditions.
The negotiations on the collective labour agreement for postal deliverers are well underway.
Acceleration of digital transformation
The acceleration of PostNL’s digital transformation continues to progress, as the company aims to strengthen its
competitive position by further building on its platform and connecting customers, consumers and solutions
through simple and smart digital journeys. Consumers and customers are increasingly digitally connected to the
company’s platform. PostNL now has 7 million consumer accounts (Q1 2021: 6.2 million) of which 56% (Q1
2021: 54%) are actively used. PostNL has recently introduced an algorithm to support customers in reducing
packaging, a demonstration of a digital initiative that also underpins PostNL’s sustainability ambition.
PostNL intends to spend around €23 million on the acceleration of its digital transformation in 2022, of which
€4 million was visible in the first three months of 2022. The programme is expected to become accretive to ROIC
in 2023.
Business performance Q1 2022
Note: normalised figures exclude one-offs in Q1 2022 (€3 million) and in Q1 2021 (€(18) million)
• Limited impact on normalised EBIT assumed to be non-recurring and related to Covid-19 in Q1 2022: €(2) million at Parcels and €3 million at Mail in the Netherlands (Q1 2021: €42 million; €24 million at Parcels and
€18 million at Mail in the Netherlands)
• As expected, around €(15) million impact on normalised EBIT from cross-border activities, resulting from the change in VAT regulation for small non-EU goods and other regulation in China in July 2021 together with global supply chain disruptions
• €21 million organic cost increases, €2 million more than anticipated

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tijd 15.29
PostNl EUR 2,71 -37,2ct vol. 14,8 milj.