‘A STRONGER COMPANY’
Pitney Bowes poised to add more jobs in Connecticut
STAMFORD — Shipping-andmailing provider Pitney Bowes has seen major revenue increases in the past few months, gains that are spurring significant hiring in and out of Connecticut.
The quarterly and annual returns that Pitney reported this week show the momentum of a Stamford-based company that has withstood the disruption of the coronavirus crisis, while seeing major growth in its ecommerce business.
“When the pandemic hit, we had two objectives. First, we needed to focus on the health and well-being of our employees and ensure the company remained strong financially during this unpredictable time,” Pitney CEO and President Marc Lautenbach said during an earnings call this week. “Secondly, we wanted to come out of this terrible moment a stronger company. It is often true that moments of economic dislocation create opportunities. Our team was determined to leverage the investments we’ve made over the last several years to capture those opportunities.”
Pitney has been able to keep operating throughout the pandemic, boosted by its designation as an “essential” business by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Fourth-quarter returns reached about $1 billion, jumping 24 percent year over year. It posted a quarterly profit of about $19 million.
For all of 2020, Pitney’s revenues grew 11 percent to $3.6 billion.
Last year, shipping-related revenues represented 50 percent of returns.
Global e-commerce revenues totaled $1.6 billion in 2020, growing 41 percent. E-commerce has benefited from growing volumes for domestic parcels and “cross-border” and digital-delivery services.
Pitney has made a major push into e-commerce in the past few years. In 2017, it acquired for $475 million the parcel-logistics business Newgistics.
While e-commerce is powering the growth, mailing products and services are still vital operations. The company’s Presort Services business processed 16.7 billion pieces of mail last year for enterprise clients. Among key products, the company has shipped about 20,000 units of the SendPro Mailstation postage meter since its launch last April.
Pitney officials said they expect revenues for 2021 to grow “in the lowto-mid single-digit range.”
At the same time, investors appear to have some doubts about the company’s long-term prospects. Pitney shares dropped 19 percent Tuesday, the day that the firm’s latest earnings report was released. They closed Friday at $9.32, up 3 percent from Thursday. At their 52-week high, they had reached $15.50.
Pitney celebrated its 100th anniversary last year and ranked No. 699 on last year’s Fortune list.
The Nutmeg State contingent includes about 700 who work across several units in Shelton, about 190 Presort workers in Hartford and about 200 based at its main offices at 3001 Summer St. in Stamford. Through the state Department of Economic and Community Development, Pitney has received a number of jobs-related subsidies. Those incentives include a $15 million loan, of which $10 million was forgiven for the creation of 200 new jobs during a five-year span. It has also received a $1 million job-training grant and a multimillion-dollar package of tax credits.
To date, Pitney has earned about
$3.9 million of those tax credits, according to DECD data. It could receive up to $6 million in additional credits during the next three years if it meets criteria that include benchmarks for company-generated tax revenues.
E-commerce and Presort Services are generating the most job growth, with e-commerce doubling its workforce by bringing in about 2,500 permanent and temporary employees in the fourth quarter of last year. Last year, Pitney opened e-commerce facilities in Baltimore, Md.; Orlando, Fla.; and Oakland, Calif.; and upgraded one in Atlanta.
The company is looking to hire more people, including additional Connecticut-based Presort employees.
Its recent hires include Ana Maria Chadwick, formerly a longtime GE Capital executive, who started last week in her new role as chief financial officer and executive vice president.
“While there continues to be tremendous uncertainty in our economy in how the pandemic will play out, we are poised to enter the last stage of successful transformation: profitable revenue growth,” Lautenbach said. “I am proud of what the team has accomplished, but we all recognize there is more work to do. I am excited about the next chapter of this transformation.”