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 innovation

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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

Further inquiry note:
Austrian Post
Ms. Ina Sabitzer
Head of Corporate Communications
Tel: +43 577 67-21763
[email protected]

Mr. Michael Homola
Press Spokesman
Tel: +43 577 67-32010
[email protected]

Mr. Harald Hagenauer
Head of Investor Relations
Tel: +43 577 67-30400
[email protected]
end of announcement euro adhoc
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issuer:   Österreichische Post AG
          Postgasse 8
          A-1010 Wien
phone:    +43 (0)57767-0
mail:     [email protected]
WWW:      www.post.at
sector:   Transport
ISIN:     AT0000APOST4
indexes:  ATX Prime, ATX

stockmarkets: stock market: Wien
language: English

Digitale Pressemappe: http://www.ots.at/pressemappe/2209

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