Deputy Lindsay Ash made the comments following the release of the government-owned company’s annual report which described 2020 as a season of ‘peaks and troughs’.
The downturn has been attributed to the continuing decline in use of letters, the pandemic and Brexit. It was the second consecutive year of losses for Jersey Post which lost £933,000 in 2019. Despite this figures show that the business experienced a 27% increase in turnover compared to last year – up to £68m.
Deputy Ash added that he was confident the business’ board were making the right changes to point the service back into profitability.
He said: ‘Obviously any loss is a cause for concern and a concern for them but we have been looking at a very difficult time for postal services and there have been some big changes going on.
‘They moved to buy Woodside Logistics and are looking to get more involved in the logistics side of things. It is likely that there will also be further restructuring likely which will see them moving away from being an old-style post office. The board are already well aware of this and have already started making changes.’
Deputy Ash added that the case of Jersey Post was not isolated and there had been problems with mail companies across the globe. He specifically made reference to the US Postal Service which recently reported that it made a $3 billion loss in 2020.
‘I think it has been the same with postal services the world over. The game is changing considerably and email has taken a big share of the total [mail] volume. Jersey Post will reposition itself within the market place and it still has a big part to play in Jersey but it will just be a different one.
‘These figures are not totally unexpected and I think it is just a case of seeing how things go and how demand goes,’ he added.
During the pandemic, countries, including Jersey, closed their borders and traveller confidence nosedived. As a result, many Islanders took staycations and, unlike other years, did not withdraw foreign currencies – a trend which hit Jersey Post’s foreign exchange operations hard.
With many people staying at home for a large portion of the year, the company’s in-person retail operations also took a hit.
The report said: ‘One of many impacts was the decline in retail counter business where revenue fell by 30% and, after years of making a small contribution, our retail network made a significant loss.
‘The impact of travel bans reduced foreign exchange business almost to zero and the fall in retail footfall hit post offices too. Unfortunately, we have not seen this recover in quarter one 2021 and this area of the business remains a concern.’
