The two key issues facing An Post remain how to contain costs and prepare itself for competition as the postal markets become liberalised. Chief executive John Hynes said yesterday that about 25 per cent of the letters market will be opened to competition by 2003.
This could translate into around £65 million of the current revenue of £231 million. Mr Hynes said he expects the big players in parcel delivery - such as UPS and TNT to attack the letters' market when it opens.
Both he and An Post chairman Mr Stephen O'Connor took great pride in the fact that the cost of letters has not risen in the past seven years. Recently the standard postal rate was reduced from 32p to 30p while postcard prices went up from 28p to 30p.
An Post maintains that the cost in Ireland of sending a letter is among the five cheapest in Europe.
Mr O'Connor also said yesterday that costs were falling in all its divisions, especially in its post office retail sector. Costs for parcel delivery have risen very little, he said. This is an area where An Post already faces competition.
Around 8,000 people work full-time in An Post. Mr Hynes said he any redundancies needed could be accommodated within the voluntary redundancy programmes. New technology where An Post is making substantial investment should translate into some savings. One thing is certain - residential customers will not see much improvement in delivery times - 121 p.m. each day remains the target for delivery to such customers, Mr Hynes said.
