An Post has raised a loan of €40m from the European Investment Bank that will finance almost half of its planned investment of €82m over the next three years.
An Post has plans to enhance its traditional businesses of mail carriage and financial payments services with a long-term move towards e-commerce and financial services, while incorporating strong climate change policies.
EIB vice president Andrew McDowell said: “An Post is demonstrating how support for local communities and climate action can be at the core of a sustainable business. For that reason, I am very pleased to confirm a new €40m loan from the European Investment Bank to finance its greener delivery fleet and to accelerate use of innovation and digitalisation to enhance access to financial services and improve mails, parcels and e-commerce services for customers.”
An Post chief executive David McRedmond commented: “This ground-breaking contract demonstrates confidence in An Post’s transformation and digital strategy for the Irish economy, business of all sizes and local communities. It enables us to move faster and be smarter in changing from the old world of letters and cash to the new digital world of e-commerce and financial services.”
On hand at the announcement of the loan were some of the company’s new electric vehicles that will be used to ensure that postal deliveries to 60,000 Dublin addresses will be emissions-free in time for Christmas, making a reality of An Post’s ‘emission free deliveries between the canals’ plan. Zero emission electric vehicles will be introduced to Cork, Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick, Waterford and other towns within the next 12 months.
In Association with
An Post customers will also benefit from high-performance automated parcel sorting and replacement of paper forms with app-based technology as part of broader digitalis and innovation investment to cater for the growing e-commerce parcel business.
The company’s new strategy, it says, has brought a turnaround from losses of €12m in 2016 to profit of €41m in 2018. McRedmond said: “We will achieve a similar or better performance in 2019, exceeding our targets for the year and delivering continued growth in e-commerce and financial services. Attracting the support of the EIB enables further investment and ensures that we stay ahead of the massive societal and commercial changes across the globe.”
Photo: Minister Richard Bruton (left) and Andrew McDowell (centre) with An Post’s Laura Fitzsimmons (left), Debbie Byrne and Keith Lally. (Pic: Maxwells)
