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PostNord

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PostNord AB
Company typeState-owned company
Predecessors
Founded24 June 2009[1]
FoundersDanish Government
Swedish Government
HeadquartersSolna, Sweden
Key people
  • Christian W. Jansson (Chairman)
  • Annemarie Gardshol (President & CEO)[2]
RevenueIncrease SEK 41,646 million (2021)[2]
Increase SEK 2,481 million (2021)[2]
Increase SEK 1,989 million (2021)[2]
Total assetsIncrease SEK 30,590 million (end of 2021)[2]
Total equityIncrease SEK 9,133 million (end of 2021)[2]
OwnersSwedish Government (60%)
Danish Government (40%)[2]
Number of employees
28,358 (average, 2021)[2]
Divisions
  • PostNord Denmark
  • PostNord Norway
  • PostNord Strålfors
  • PostNord Sweden
[3]
Websitepostnord.com

PostNord AB is a provider of postal services operating mainly in the Nordic countries. The company was formed on 24 June 2009, under the name Posten Norden, as the holding company in a merger between the Danish and Swedish postal service providers Post Danmark A/S and Posten AB. In 2011, the name of the company was changed to PostNord.[1][3][4][5]

The owners of PostNord Group are the state of Sweden (60 percent) and the state of Denmark (40 percent). The voting rights are, however, split equally (50/50) between the two owners, and the respective owners name equal numbers of corporate board members.[6][7]

In 2015, the subsidiary that operates in Sweden changed its name from Posten AB to PostNord Group AB, whereas the name of the legal entity operating in Denmark was not changed.[8][9] In Sweden, as of 2020, the group is the second largest employer by number of employees, after Volvo Cars.[10]

History

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Denmark

[edit]
Main article: Post Danmark

The precursor of Post Danmark was the Danish national postal service, Postvæsenet, which was founded in 1624 as King Christian IV issued a regulation on the transmission of letters.[11] During its early history, the Danish postal service was operated under private as well as royal control, but it was nationalized in 1711. Already before the nationalization, the postal service had introduced uniforms in red and yellow. These colors have since then remained the distinguishing marks of the organization.

The first Danish postage stamp was issued in 1851. In 1927, the Danish postal and telegraphy services were merged under the name Post- og Telegrafvæsenet. In 1990, the telecommunications business was spun off into a separate joint-stock company, and in 1995, the postal operations were transferred to the wholly state-owned company Post Danmark A/S, with a monopoly on transmission of letters weighing up to 100 grams. In 2005, the weight limit was lowered to 50 grams, and in 2011, the monopoly was abolished.[12][13][14]

Sweden

[edit]
Main article: Posten AB

The history of Posten AB reaches back to 1636, when the regency government during the minority of Queen Christina issued regulations on postal services. Previous to that, transmission of letters had been organized on behalf of the government and the church. For periods of several years from the 1650s to the 1670s, postal services in Sweden were entrusted to private monopolies, but from 1677, and onwards until the late 20th century, they were provided by a government-controlled monopoly. The monopoly was abolished in 1993.[15]

Beginning 1685, the Swedish postal service stamped letters to mark that the delivery had been paid for by the sender. Postage stamps were first issued in 1855.[16]

Already by the time of the foundation, a post horn with a crown was used as the symbol of the Swedish postal service. The appearance of the symbol was standardized for the first time in 1912 and then changed several times in the 20th century, as well as in 2001.

In 1994, the operations of the Swedish postal service were transferred to the wholly state-owned joint-stock company Posten AB. In 2001, post offices were replaced by "parcel shops" embedded in partnering retail stores.[17]

Merger

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Mail van from PostNord in Skogås, Sweden.
Electric mail van from PostNord in Ystad, Sweden 2021.

The companies Post Danmark A/S and Posten AB merged in June 2009, through a transfer of ownership to the holding company Posten Norden AB.[18] On 17 May 2011, the holding company changed its name to PostNord AB.[5] The merger was preceded by a review according to European Union competition law, and it was approved on the condition that overlapping businesses dealing with package delivery to business customers in Denmark were divested.[19] Around 2013, the company initiated a gradual change of livery on its Swedish vans and trucks to the PostNord name and color (from yellow to light blue).[20] Initially, the change mainly affected package delivery trucks, but since 2015, it has been applied to all aspects of the Swedish operations.[21][22][23][24]

Developments in the 21st century

[edit]

With the internet and the increased digital handling of messages and other services, the number of physical letters sent has decreased markedly. In 2000, 1.44 billion letters were transmitted in Denmark and 3.43 billion in Sweden. In 2020, the numbers were 196 million in Denmark and 1.59 billion in Sweden, a decrease by 86.4 percent and 53.6 percent, respectively.[25][26][27]

Since the early 2010s, the strategy has been to focus more on the package delivery business, which is affected positively by increased e-commerce volumes.[18][28] Another area where PostNord has been active since the early 21st century is the management of secure electronic messages from governments and companies to individual recipients.[29][30]

Market

[edit]

A large majority of PostNord's revenue is derived from markets in the Nordic countries (except Iceland). PostNord performs package delivery in all of these markets and mail delivery in Denmark and Sweden. The volumes of these activities are reported by country. However, the business area PostNord Strålfors, which deals with organizations that need to communicate with large groups of people, only reports numbers that include all markets.[31][32]

Presence per market/activity (2020)[32] Net sales
(million SEK) 		Number of letters
(millions) 		Number of service locations
(approximate)
PostNord Sweden 23,694 1,186 2,200
PostNord Denmark 9,304 193 2,900
PostNord Norway 4,481 – 1,600
PostNord Finland 1,371 – 2,200
PostNord Strålfors 1,981 – –
Other activities 2,057 – –

Operations

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In 2021, PostNord had an average of 28,358 full-time-equivalent employees. Of these, 19,300 worked in Sweden and 6,757 in Denmark, the countries where PostNord is the designated universal postal operator. Other countries with significant employee numbers are Norway with 1,598 employees and Finland with 383 employees.[2]

PostNord has a partnership with DPDgroup around international parcel deliveries.[31]

PostNord Denmark

[edit]

The PostNord Denmark subsidiary, Post Danmark A/S, is the designated operator for universal postal services in Denmark. It is also one of the country's three largest package delivery providers, when counting packages to which postal regulations apply.[31][27]

Letter volumes are falling in Denmark, with a decrease by 18 percent from 2019 to 2020, whereas the market for package deliveries is expanding.[27]

PostNord Sweden

[edit]

The PostNord Sweden subsidiary, PostNord Sverige AB, is the designated operator for universal postal services in Sweden and the largest package distributor in Sweden, with a market share of more than 50 percent in 2020 for packages weighing up to 20 kg.[31][26]

The number of traditional physical letters delivered is decreasing, while package volumes are increasing. In 2020, letters accounted for around 40 percent of the total revenue of PostNord in Sweden.[32]

Since 2021, PostNord Sweden has gradually been moving towards mail delivery once every two working days instead of every working day. The change is expected to be completed during 2022. This was made possible by changes to postal regulations issued in 2018.[31][26]

In 2020, the Swedish government initiated a public inquiry to review the possibilities of further changes to postal regulations. Topics to be covered include confidentiality requirements and measures to avoid the distribution of narcotics and weapons through postal services. The financing of country-wide postal services is also being reviewed.[26]

Sponsorship

[edit]

PostNord is the main sponsor of the men's and women's national basketball teams of Finland.[33]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Postfusion er på plads". business.dk (in Danish). 24 June 2009. Archived from the original on 26 June 2009. Retrieved 24 June 2009.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Annual and Sustainability Report 2021" (PDF). PostNord. 2022. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Annual and Sustainability Report 2020 : Corporate Governance Report" (PDF). PostNord AB. 2021. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  4. ^ "Svensk-dansk postfusion formellt klar" (in Swedish). di.se. 24 June 2009. Retrieved 24 June 2009.
  5. ^ a b "Posten Norden Group changes name to PostNord". PostNord. 17 May 2011. Archived from the original on 8 September 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2011.
  6. ^ "Postnords bolagsstyrning, ägar- och styrningskultur - PostNord". postnord.com. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  7. ^ "En kort sammenfatning af PostNord og vores aktiviteter - PostNord". postnord.com. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  8. ^ "Annual and Sustainability Report 2015" (PDF). PostNord AB. 2016. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  9. ^ "Lov om Post Danmark A/S sætter rammerne". postnord.dk (in Danish). PostNord. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  10. ^ "Hur kommer det sig att Postnord är på väg ner i avgrunden?". Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). 19 January 2020. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  11. ^ "Postvæsen". Den Store Danske (in Danish). Gyldendal. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  12. ^ "Liberalisering af postmarkedet baner vej for nye gebyrer". Berlingske (in Danish). 3 November 2005. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  13. ^ Høyrup, Morten; Flensborg, Line (31 January 2008). "Slut med Post Danmark-monopol". TV 2 (in Danish). Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  14. ^ Osbæck, Pia (18 October 2011). "Bladkompagniet vil konkurrere med Post Danmark om breve". Bureaubiz (in Danish). Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  15. ^ Lindström, Raffaella (12 October 2019). "Från fyra öre till elva kronor – "portot har alltid väckt starka känslor"". Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  16. ^ "Frimärken" (in Swedish). Postmuseum. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  17. ^ Croft, Jane; Dempsey, Harry (23 August 2021). "Post Office struggles to recover from a bruising scandal". Financial Times. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  18. ^ a b Rörbecker, Mats (12 May 2010). "Ingen vändning för Posten Norden". Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  19. ^ Tait, Nikki (22 April 2009). "Brussels approves merger of postal services". Financial Times. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  20. ^ "Postens gula bilar byter färg". Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). 9 June 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  21. ^ "Gul blir blå när Posten byter namn". Skövde Nyheter (in Swedish). 11 March 2014. Archived from the original on 7 May 2016. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  22. ^ Nilsson, Thomas (3 March 2014). "Postbilar blir blå". NWT (in Swedish). Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  23. ^ "Postens gula bilar blir blåa". Sydsvenskan (in Swedish). 9 June 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  24. ^ Malteson, Evelina (9 June 2015). "Därför blir de gamla gula postbilarna blåa". Expressen (in Swedish). Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  25. ^ Færch, Emil (23 September 2016). "Posten i krise: Vi sender en milliard færre breve". TV 2 (in Danish). Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  26. ^ a b c d "Svensk postmarknad 2021 - PTS-ER-2021:10" (PDF). pts.se (in Swedish). 15 April 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  27. ^ a b c "Redegørelse for 2020 om det danske postmarkeds tilstand og udvikling" (PDF). trafikstyrelsen.dk (in Danish). 25 January 2022. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  28. ^ Lindström, Karin (22 April 2015). "Om fem år skickar vi så få brev att postverksamhet inte lönar sig. Vad händer med Posten då?". Computer Sweden (in Swedish). Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  29. ^ Olsson, Mats (19 September 2015). "Digital brevlåda ersätter mängder av pappersbrev". Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  30. ^ "Background". e-boks.com. e-Boks. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
  31. ^ a b c d e "Annual and Sustainability Report 2020" (PDF). PostNord. 2021. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
  32. ^ a b c "2021 Company Presentation" (PDF). PostNord. 7 May 2021. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
  33. ^ "PostNord supports Finnish basketball". PostNord. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
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