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View Annual Report Cautionary note with regard to “forward-looking statements” Some statements in this Annual Report are “forward-looking statements”. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may occur in the future. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that are beyond PostNL’s control and impossible to predict and may cause actual results to differ materially from any future results expressed or implied. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts, analyses and projections about the industries in which PostNL operates and PostNL management’s beliefs and assumptions about future events. You are cautioned not to put undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which only speak as of the date of this Annual Report and are neither predictions nor guarantees of future events or circumstances. PostNL does not undertake any obligation to release publicly any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this Annual Report or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as may be required under applicable securities laws. Table of Contents 1 We are PostNL 3 2 Message from Herna Verhagen 11 24 hours in PostNL Business Report 3 How we create long-term value 15 4 Our strategy 22 5 What sets us apart 31 6 Mail in the Netherlands 42 7 Parcels 48 8 International 55 9 Performance 2017 and outlook 2018 59 Governance 10 Statement of the Board of Management 75 11 Report of the Supervisory Board 76 12 Corporate governance 81 13 Risk management 92 14 Remuneration report 100 15 Our tax policies and principles 104 16 PostNL on the capital markets 106 Performance Statements 17 Financial Statements 113 18 CR Performance Statements 195 Appendices Appendix 1: Other CR Performance Statements 217 Appendix 2: Data coverage table 218 Appendix 3: Glossary and definitions 220 Appendix 4: Summary of key figures 224 How to read this report Business Report Governance Performance Statements This section provides an overview of the This section provides an overview of the This section includes the Financial Statements and internal and external factors that are shaping our governance framework we had in place in 2017, Corporate Responsibility (CR) Performance business, the actions we implemented in 2017, an outline of the key topics the Board of Statements. and how we plan to continue realising long-term Management and the Supervisory Board dealt value for our stakeholders and the business with during the year, and related information. Together, the We are PostNL, Message from Herna going forward. Verhagen, Business Report and Governance sections make up the Report of the Management Board. 1 We are PostNL PostNL Accelerating transformation | 1 We are PostNL 3 PostNL Accelerating transformation | 1 We are PostNL 4 PostNL Accelerating transformation | 1 We are PostNL 5 PostNL Accelerating transformation | 1 We are PostNL 6 PostNL Accelerating transformation | 1 We are PostNL 7 PostNL Accelerating transformation | 1 We are PostNL 8 PostNL Accelerating transformation | 1 We are PostNL 9 24H Ton Vlavianos PostNL Accelerating transformation | 1 We are PostNL 10 2 Message from Herna Verhagen Accelerating transformation further automated our sorting process. In line with customer demand, we began simplifying our product portfolio, which will Looking back improve our operational efficiency and quality and further In 2017, we continued to make considerable progress increase customer satisfaction, and began the redesign of our transforming PostNL into a logistics e-commerce company, commercial department. Overall, we realised cost savings of helping us realise our ambition to be the postal and logistic €56 million, unfortunately at the lower end of our guided solutions provider in our chosen markets. And with 38% of the bandwidth. We also increased our prices in a balanced manner, revenue we generated in 2017 related to e-commerce, we are ensuring that we do not materially impact volumes. well on track to reach our target of bringing this to at least 50% by 2020. We also further improved our financial position: our Regulation continued to require significant management consolidated equity is positive, we refinanced our debt against attention, and impacted us operationally and financially faster attractive conditions, and we reinstated our dividend payment. than anticipated. The decision by the Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) that PostNL has significant market power in These are achievements that we are rightly proud of. But we the 24-hour bulk mail segment, and must grant network access also need to acknowledge that not everything developed as we to postal operators in this segment, further stimulated had hoped. For example, mail volume decline was higher than competition. We believe this will ultimately harm the we projected, which was due to substitution and regulation that sustainability of the Dutch postal network. Given the supports competition. Additionally, our International business fundamental changes in the postal market, and the expected did not perform as expected. This resulted in an underlying further decline in volumes, we believe regulation must be cash operating income of €225 million in 2017. While some of amended to reflect this reality and to facilitate an orderly and these issues were mainly the result of external factors, it is vital rational adjustment of the Dutch postal market. To safeguard that we continue to look critically at ourselves and do the reliability and accessibility of the postal service, and to everything in our power to improve where necessary. preserve decent labour conditions in this shrinking market, we believe that in the long run the consolidation of postal networks Yet what has not changed is how vital our people are to the in the Netherlands is inevitable. We look forward to the success of our great company, and how much we value them. outcome of the postal dialogue which the Secretary of State Our diverse, dedicated and innovative people make this initiated under the supervision of Ms Oudeman. company successful. Because of the trust I have in them, I am confident that we will be able to continue our accelerated As our position as a leading logistics e-commerce company in transformation and take the necessary steps to make the Benelux continues to strengthen, we strive to create further improvements. profitable growth through our Parcels segment. Increasing e-commerce growth, combined with investments in our 2017 per segment best-in-class infrastructure and our ongoing introduction of In Mail in the Netherlands, our focus remains on delivering a innovative services and solutions, resulted in record-breaking sustainable cash flow in a shrinking market, while dealing with volume growth in 2017, both in the Netherlands and Belgium. strong competition and regulation that does not reflect the We introduced a range of innovative solutions, such as the reality of continuously declining mail volumes. We continued option for customers to reroute their parcel before the first our policy to mitigate the impact of volume decline through delivery attempt. Additionally, we expanded our network, cost savings and price increases. For example, by working including through a number of acquisitions, the opening of a closely with municipalities and local communities, we removed sorting centre at one of the bol.com facilities, and the opening or transferred post boxes that were infrequently used, and we of our nineteenth parcels processing and distribution centre PostNL Accelerating transformation | 2 Message from Herna Verhagen 11 with cargo hub and temperature-controlled facilities. employer that respects its people and provides decent working conditions. For example, by offering our mail deliverers At our International segment, we continued to focus on contracts that offer additional hours, while continuing to have enhanced cash profitability. Although we did not make as much constructive discussions with our outsourcing providers to progress as hoped, we continue to concentrate on capturing ensure we safeguard sustainable working solutions for the opportunities created by accelerating global e-commerce people we contract. Every day, I see examples of the effort our growth, using our cross-border operations, and on further people put in, and the ideas and solutions they come up with to building Nexive’s and Postcon’s position. Our policy of strict make this great company more successful. This allows us to compliance with international dangerous goods regulation realise our strategy and ambitions, enabling us to safeguard a resulted in the loss of some of our customers at our healthy and sustainable future for PostNL. cross-border parcel business, affecting our revenue. We also faced another year of tough market conditions in both Looking forward Germany and Italy. Fortunately, we also benefitted from In 2017, I announced the acceleration of PostNL’s international e-commerce growth, and continued to launch transformation into a logistics e-commerce company, to realise new services and solutions to support our position as a strong our ambition to be the postal and logistic solutions provider in player in the international e-commerce market. our chosen markets and to further improve our value proposition. The developments over 2017 show that the In July, we introduced changes to
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