by NUR HANANI AZMAN/ pic by BLOOMBERG

POS Malaysia Bhd stated that strong demand for courier service and higher postal tariff increased its revenue for the second quarter ended June 30, 2020 (2Q20), to RM606.1 million from RM573 million in the corresponding quarter last year.

Surge in postal volume helped the postal company to narrow its net loss by 61% to RM19 million compared to net loss of RM68.2 million in the same quarter last year.

“Pos Malaysia is on a firm recovery path as it sets out to deliver on its transformation plan towards achieving sustained profitability.

“We are seeing higher than usual courier volume even after the easing of movement restrictions and we expect this trend to continue throughout the rest of the year,” Pos Malaysia group CEO Syed Md Najib Syed Md Noor said in a statement yesterday.

The group’s courier business’ revenue increased by 20% year-on-year in 2Q20, driven by surge in demand from e-commerce and online marketplaces.

The new postal tariffs were implemented in February 2020, despite a decline in mail volume in the month of April due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and grew mail revenue by 25% in 2Q20.

International business’ revenue increased by 14% in 2Q20 as a result of a pricing review for transhipment services and acquisition of new clients.

The group’s retail business saw significant improvement in the months of May and June.

“While the group is cognisant of the lingering effects of the uncertainties from the Covid-19 pandemic, we expect a stronger second half of 2020, supported by its transformation initiatives and a favourable market outlook for the courier business.

“The mail business, on the back of increased postal rates and slower than expected decline in mail volume, is projected to contribute incremental revenue of RM100 million-RM150million for the year,” Syed Md Najib added.

The company stated that its continued investments in digitalisation, automation and crowdsourcing of delivery riders will be critical to grow its business and processing capacity, as well as improve speed, in order to meet customer expectations in this digitally-driven economy.

The group’s transformation journey is showing strong progress and has enabled the business to cater to the change in consumer behaviour as a result of the unprecedented changes in the business landscape due to Covid-19, Syed Md Najib added.

The group’s transformation initiatives deployed over the past 18 months, such as automation and crowdsourcing, allowed the group to handle on average 487,000 parcels per day, peaking at 800,000 during the period.

Pos Malaysia’s share price closed down two sen or 2.17% at 90 sen, valuing the company at some RM704.5 million.