AUSTRALIA POST ISSUES GRIM WARNING

AUSTRALIA Post is predicting a grim post-christmas national outlook once high business debt, pressure on discretionary incomes and mental health start to weigh on the economy.

Acting chief executive Rodney Boys made the grim prediction after revealing a stellar set of numbers for the federal government-owned business.

More online shopping through the pandemic “at all hours of the day” delivered a windfall for Australia Post in the form of record revenues and near-doubling of profit before tax.

Continuing to deliver for the community sent revenues soaring 10.3 per cent to $8.3bn

Strong e-commerce growth led to an increase in profit to $100.7m, up 87.7 per cent from $53.6m.

Profit after tax was up 62 per cent to $69.6m.

Parcels & Services revenue grew 17.7 per cent to $6.5bn, on the back of a 27.1 per cent increase in Australia Post branded parcels, while Startrack volumes were up 12.1 per cent.

However, Mr Boys warned of challenges on a number of fronts post Christmas, including discretionary incomes and mental health of consumers from extended lockdowns and the significant amount of debt that has been built up during the pandemic.