KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 25 — National courier service Pos Malaysia Bhd’s net loss decreased substantially by 61 per cent to RM19.02 million in the second quarter ended June 30, 2020 (2Q20) compared with the preceding quarter.

Revenue increased sharply to RM606.1 million from RM573.0 million previously, driven by strong demand for courier services and higher postal tariffs.

The company has changed its financial year-end from March 31 to December 31.

In a filing to Bursa Malaysia, Pos Malaysia said its loss before tax was 8.6 per cent lower at RM14.1 million.

The company also recorded its first monthly profit after tax (PAT) in June 2020, the first since January 2019.

"The courier business’ revenue increased by 20 per cent in 2Q20 compared with the corresponding quarter in 2019 with the increase in demand from eCommerce and online marketplaces.

"Mail business saw revenue grow by 25 per cent as a result of the new postal tariffs implemented in February 2020, despite a decline in mail volume in April due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” it said.

Group chief executive officer Syed Md Najib Syed Md Noor said the company is on a firm recovery path as it sets out to deliver on its transformation plan towards achieving sustained profitability.

He said Pos Malaysia is seeing higher than usual courier volume even after the easing of movement restrictions and expects this trend to continue throughout the rest of the year.

"Our continued investments in digitalisation, automation and crowdsourcing of delivery riders will be critical to growing our business, processing capacity and speed, in order to meet customer expectations in this digitally-driven economy.

"The group’s transformation journey is showing strong progress and has enabled the business to weather the storm and cater for the change in consumer behaviour as a result of the unprecedented changes in the business landscape due to Covid-19,” he said.

Pos Malaysia handled on average 487,000 parcels per day, peaking at 800,000 in 2Q20. — Bernama