KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 22): Pos Malaysia Bhd narrowed its net loss to RM5.25 million or 0.67 sen per share for the second quarter ended June 30, 2022 (2QFY22), from RM121.84 million or 15.57 sen per share a year ago.

Apart from the impairment of property, plant and equipment of RM46.7 million, the group said the lower loss was due to lower staff cost pursuant to its recent mutual separation scheme and continuous effective cost management.

Quarterly revenue slipped 3.11% to RM517.26 million year-on-year from RM533.89 million, the group said in a stock exchange filing.

This was due partly to a 17% fall in postal revenue to RM656.815 million from RM787.56 million amid a drop in courier business following a decrease in overall parcel volume, especially from contract customers.

Logistics revenue, meanwhile, declined 15% to RM158.63 million from RM187.38 million. This decrease was mainly brought about by the freight management business (especially from freight forwarding) as an exceptionally high demurrage and detention charge of RM19.1 million was included in last year's revenue.

"The coal export ban imposed by the Indonesian government in January 2022 also adversely impacted the revenue from marine business," said Pos Malaysia.

Pos Malaysia's 2QFY22 net loss was also lower than the RM30.37 million reported for the immediate preceding quarter, while  revenue increased 6.79% from RM484.35 million.

For the cumulative first half ended June 30, 2022 (1HFY22), Pos Malaysia's net loss decreased to RM35.62 million from RM168.63 million in the same period last year. 1HFY22 revenue fell 11.3% to RM1.002 billion from RM1.13 billion.

Pos Malaysia's group chief executive officer Charles Brewer said the group is cautiously optimistic that its financial performance for FY22 will show continued improvement.

Aside from mail and parcel businesses, the aviation and logistics segments are recovering and the outlook remains positive, underpinned by the continued opening of international borders, he said.

"We will continue to focus on delivering a profitable parcel and retail business, transforming the core operation, optimising for margin-led businesses and ensuring we are well placed for a better future," he added in a statement.

Nonetheless, with the ongoing economic uncertainties and changing consumer behaviours, Pos Malaysia expects 2HFY22 to be equally challenging.

As a result, it said it will continue to focus on a balanced execution of good customer mix, improving yields, managing costs, whilst delivering a market-leading service, and ensuring an optimum customer experience at every touch point.

Pos Malaysia shares settled half a sen or 0.85% lower at 58 sen on Monday (Aug 22) for a market capitalisation of RM450.16 million. The counter has fallen 14.71% since the beginning of this year.