EANS-Adhoc: Österreichische Post AG / Austrian Post Aims to Grow Again in the Medium-Term and Continues its Group Transformation Decisively CEO Georg Pölzl focuses on customer-orientation and inno

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Company Information

18.02.2010

Georg Pölzl, Chairman of the Management Board and Chief Executive
Officer of Austrian Post, introduced medium-term plans and new
strategies today which are designed to make the Group fit for the
future in the light of the upcoming liberalisation of the Austrian
postal market. The four strategic cornerstones provide a clear
orientation for further development of Austrian Post. In addition to
defending its market leadership in the letter mail and parcels
segments in Austria, Austrian Post also wants to exploit future
growth opportunities. Pölzl is increasingly focusing on innovation
and customer orientation. "We have set ambitious goals for ourselves.
In order to achieve this, the entire company and particularly our
domestic business operations will have to undergo a far-reaching
reorientation, placing much more emphasis on consumer-friendly
services. We will decisively confront the risks arising from
e-substitution and liberalisation and persistently exploit our growth
opportunities," says CEO Georg Pölzl.

The future postal market opens up new opportunities but poses
challenges Current developments in international postal and logistics
markets indicate potential challenges to Austrian Post but also new
opportunities. The most important changes are the upcoming market
liberalisation effective January 1, 2011 as well as the substitution
of letters by electronic media. International estimates forecast that
these trends could result in a 3-7% annual decline in letter mail
volumes. In contrast, the internationalisation of trade flows and the
ongoing surge in Internet shopping will drive future growth in the
parcels segment. Apart from major changes in the market, customer
requirements are also further developing. On the one hand, the new
digital opportunities are raising customer expectations in respect to
online convenience. On the other hand, increasing importance is being
attached to values such as confidentiality, data security and
reliability of services.

Austrian Post aims to leverage existing strengths "Austrian Post is a
company with a long-standing tradition, which stands for
confidentiality, reliability and efficiency. These are values which
will be more in demand than ever before", says Austrian Post CEO
Georg Pölzl. In his view, there is absolutely no doubt that the
company´s product and service offering will have to emphasize these
values more strongly. "Who else if not us can combine a high level of
data security and privacy protection with speed, convenience and easy
accessibility? Precisely this apparent contradiction opens up new
opportunities for us", Georg Pölzl adds. For this reason, Austrian
Post aims to leverage existing competencies and operate as the
undisputed number one in respect to sending or receiving postal items
and information, whether physically or electronically. In this
regard, CEO Pölzl intends to further expand the offering for private
and business customers and more strongly exploit modern technologies.

For Austrian Post, innovation means customer orientation, product
simplification and online activities Austrian Post´s declared goal is
to increasingly prioritise customer preferences and requirements by
launching a service offensive for all its products and services. The
primary aim is to make the service offering clearer and easier to
use, reduce complexity and offer customers all services under one
roof, whether physical delivery of mail or in the form of electronic
services.

"In the future, the customer will be able to receive his mail items
through the online portal of Austrian Post, enjoying the same
protected private sphere as in his own living room", Pölzl explains,
underlying the company´s increasing emphasis on online activities. In
an initial step in this direction, Austrian Post is offering
customers, effective immediately, the opportunity to conveniently and
securely request various postal services from their own homes, for
example mail forwarding or vacation hold mail.

"But this is only the first step", Pölzl states. "Our future
portfolio will be more individually tailored to specific customer
requirements. For example, the sender will be able to freely choose
whether his mail is to be printed and enveloped or sent as an
electronic file. Customers will also be able to configure parcel
delivery options online, from packaging to the electronic parcel
stamp. The recipient can decide how and where he wants to get his
personal mail - to his own residence, place of work, to his preferred
post office or from parcel "dispensers". Alternatively, mail could be
sent directly to a secure online portal of Austrian Post. In this
way, Austrian Post offers its customers the highest possible level of
convenience.

Four strategic cornerstones of Austrian Post In the last few months,
Austrian Post has intensively re-viewed its strategy and defined four
strategic cornerstones for the Group.

1. Defending market leadership in the core business Austrian Post is
the undisputed market leader in Austria, both in the letter mail
segment as well as in the transport and delivery of parcels,
particularly to private recipients. In 2009, Austrian Post gained
additional market share in both segments despite the recession and
tough competition. The Group aims to defend its strong position in
the future, especially in the letter mail market, which will be fully
liberalised in 2011.

2. Growing in selected markets In addition to defending its core
business, Austrian Post will pursue growth in selected segments. The
priority will be on the Parcel and Logistics Division, focusing on
further expanding Austrian Post´s business in the combined freight
temperature-controlled logistics and B2B/B2C parcel segments in
Austria and Germany as well as in South/ Eastern Europe. Moreover,
Austrian Post is expanding its service offering for letter mail
customers.

3. Enhancing efficiency and increasing flexibility of the cost
structure Austrian Post plans to further significantly increase its
logistics and delivery efficiency to maintain its clear cost
leadership in Austria. Key measures include the ongoing improvement
of the distribution network, further expansion of the branch network
while integrating more entrepreneurial models, and targeting cost
reduction in administration costs and sourcing volumes.

4. Strengthening customer orientation and innovation Austrian Post
will only be successful in the longterm if it can adapt its service
offering to the changing needs of its customers. For this reason, the
company will develop innovation throughout its business system and
drive forward a broad-based service campaign. This includes an online
initiative designed to increase the convenience of conventional
postal services and new digital products in the field of electronic
services.

Austrian Post has defined ambitious medium-term business targets:

Revenue: Medium-term growth of 1-2% annually The goal is to achieve
annual growth of 6-9% p.a. in the parcels segment, particularly
focusing on international subsidiaries, in the light of a potential
annual 3-5% revenue decline in the letter mail business.

High profitability: Sustainable EBITDA margin of 10-12% Austrian Post
will strive to further increase efficiency in all its operational
processes, in order to secure long-term earnings and cash flow.

Dividends: Continuation of attractive dividend policy Austrian Post
intends to continue its current dividend policy i.e. a dividend
payout of at least 75 percent of the Group net profit and a targeted
sustainable dividend of EUR 1.50 per share.

Vienna, February 18, 2010

end of announcement euro adhoc
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ots Originaltext: Österreichische Post AG
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Further inquiry note:

Austrian Post

Ms. Ina Sabitzer

Head of Corporate Communications

Tel: +43 577 67-21763

ina.sabitzer@post.at

Mr. Michael Homola

Press Spokesman

Tel: +43 577 67-32010

michael.homola@post.at

Mr. Harald Hagenauer

Head of Investor Relations

Tel: +43 577 67-30400

harald.hagenauer@post.at

Branche: Transport
ISIN: AT0000APOST4
WKN: A0JML5
Index: ATX Prime, ATX
Börsen: Wien / stock market