Bpost says withdrawn guidance parameters 'remain the same' after Q1 beat

By Augustin Turpin and Olivier Cherfan

(Reuters) - Belgian postal operator Bpost on Thursday reported quarterly core profit slightly above estimates, but did not provide new guidance for 2023, although interim CEO Philippe Dartienne said the previous targets remain valid "from an operational standpoint".

The company withdrew its previous targets last month following a compliance review of its services with the Belgian State.

Brokerage KBC Securities downgraded its rating on the company shares earlier this week to "reduce" from "buy" after the Belgium government said it would investigate its contracts with Bpost.

"Bpostgroup is currently not able to provide more information on the impact in relation to past revenues and has no visibility on when any possible cash outflows may occur in this respect," the company said in a statement.

However, interim CEO Philippe Dartienne reiterated the validity of BPost's previous targets.

"The underlying parameters of the initial guidance remain the same and we continue to follow the plan", he said in a call with journalists.

Dartienne also confirmed that the 25-to-50-million-euro impact of the issue on its operating profit "only concerns the year 2023, and does not concern the past".

As Europe grapples with soaring inflation, postal operators look to mitigate wage pressure and rising costs through spending caps and price hikes.

For Belgium, the volume of parcels rose by 9.1%.

BPost's adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) fell 16.5% to 77.6 million euros ($85.4 million) in the first quarter, while analysts polled by the company had forecast adjusted EBIT of 76.4 million euros.

($1 = 0.9083 euros)

(Reporting by Augustin Turpin and Olivier Cherfan; Editing by Jan Harvey, Barbara Lewis and Leslie Adler)