(Reuters) -Polish parcel locker firm InPost reported a better-than-expected 24% rise in its third-quarter core earnings on Friday, but lowered its full-year expectations citing additional investments in Britain.
Its adjusted EBITDA was 1.06 billion zlotys ($291.5 million) in the quarter, compared with the 1.02 billion zlotys expected by analysts in a company-compiled consensus.
InPost said that it now expects its adjusted EBITDA to grow by a mid-teens percentage in 2025, compared to its earlier forecast for low to mid-twenties percentage growth.
ADDITIONAL INVESTMENTS IN BRITAIN
Shares in the company were down around 2% at 0900 GMT, extending their year-to-day losses to 37%.
The downgrade is due to additional investments in its British business to prioritise the quality of its service during the busiest period, the company said.
InPost founder and CEO Rafal Brzoska told reporters the company made a “deliberate” decision to build greater capacity as it saw a substantially higher demand in the country than its capacity.
“We put quality first,” Brzoska said, adding InPost wanted to avoid issues its recently acquired delivery company Yodel faced last year, and as it continued to integrate the business.
POLAND ACCELERATES GROWTH FROM Q2
The company, which has one of the largest European networks of automated parcel machines, or APMs, delivered 351.5 million parcels in the third quarter, up 34% year-on-year.
Volumes in Poland, its biggest market, rose 10% and accelerated from the 6% growth in the second quarter.
Asked about current situation with its key customer in Poland e-commerce company Allegro, Brzoska said the companies were preparing for the holiday peak and “paradoxically” some new areas were emerging in which they could establish cooperation.
“I would not say that anything was changing in terms of our decently good mutual cooperation,” Brzoska said.
InPost in July filed an arbitration claim against Allegro, saying it had breached their long-term delivery agreement. Allegro has rejected the claims as “unfounded”.
($1 = 3.6365 zlotys)
(Reporting by Anna Pruchnicka; Editing by Jacqueline Wong, Milla Nissi-Prussak and Matt Scuffham)
