Postal service provider MaltaPost plc will remain headstrong in its goal of having a "fair and reasonable return" on its services, it announced on Tuesday.
This follows the Malta Communications Authority's (MCA) approval of MaltaPost’s revisions of certain postal tariffs on Friday, after "repeated requests" were made since 2018.
MaltaPost has been highlighting the “negative impact” that the Universal Service Obligation (USO) has had on its financials for a number of years. The USO aims to ensure that postal services are available to end-users in Malta at an “affordable" price.
The changes include an increase in the tariffs related to Domestic Single-Piece and Domestic Bulk Mail by €0.07, while the rates for regular letters up to 20g sent to Europe increased by €0.66.
MaltaPost has repeatedly requested such revisions as its USO services continue to be delivered at a loss, leading to a negative impact on its end-of-year profitability.
While the company welcomed the approval of the new tariffs, “they still do not fully address the core issue; namely that the company continues to deliver a number of USO services at a loss”.
In the six months ended 31st March 2022, MaltaPost registered a profit before tax of €0.59 million, 57 per cent lower than the €1.4 million registered in the same period in 2021.
Additionally, these difficulties also came at a time when MaltaPost had to contend with adverse conditions that emerged due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These challenges include supply chain issues and rising airfreight costs.
Apart from pandemic-related obstacles, the company also faced other “robust and effective mitigants,” such as the negative impact brought about by Brexit and the introduction of VAT on low-value purchases made from outside of the European Union.
Despite the hurdles faced, the company’s Directors will “continue with their duty to impress upon the MCA that MaltaPost rightly expects to make a fair and reasonable return on all the services it provides”. MaltaPost added that this is being done in the best interests of all its stakeholders, its nation-wide customer base, over 2,000 shareholders and almost 800 employees.
As the sole licensed Universal Service Provider of postal service in Malta, MaltaPost is tasked with collecting and delivering mail to every address in the country. It started operating in 1999 after it took over the postal services previously provided by Posta Limited.
