1,100 apply for An Post redundancy

SOME 1,100 An Post employees have applied for redundancy and severance packages since the start of the year, close to the company’s target of 1,500.

An Post, which reported its annual results for 2005 yesterday, said much of its €185 million cash reserves would go towards severance and redundancy pay. The current estimate set aside for such packages is €80m.

Most of the applications have come from the collection and delivery department and the workers will exit the company over the next two years.

An Post recorded after-tax profits of €40.7m for 2005, up from €11.1m the previous year. Last year's operating profits were €16.2m a turnaround from a loss of over €3m in 2004. Turnover was up from €750.1m to €752.9m.

The closure of its SDS package service and its amalgamation into the company's main mail delivery service resulted in cost savings of over €10m.

According to company chairperson Margaret McGinley An Post had succeeded in returning to financial stability over the past three years and was continuing to make progress in this manner.

"We turned the corner on this in 2004 and further progress was made in consolidating and strengthening the position of the company last year.

"The current position represents a solid base on which we can build a sustainable future with a degree of confidence and a depth of knowledge of the stark realities of the commercial environment in which we operate.

"We know only too well how even minimal slippage in revenue, cost control or change management can trigger a rapidly deteriorating financial crisis."

The company reduced its operating costs from €750.1m to €734.4m. It also claimed a failure to get its desired increase in postal rates from ComReg cost it around €20m last year.

Chief executive Donal Curtin who is to leave the company this summer said the core mail delivery business is a stagnant industry, and hailed An Post's recent joint-venture tie-in with the Dutch/Belgian financial services operator Fortis.

However, he declined to comment on what products might be the first to come to market, saying only that they were in the planning stages.

He said: "The deal gives An Post the opportunity to re-establish its relevance to the community. The new banking venture will provide products and services that people want, not just now, but into the future through the post office network."