Compared with the previous year, capital expenditure increased in the MAIL Division from €253 million to €309 million. Out of the total amount, investments were predominantly made in assets related to IT equipment (€87 million), internally generated intangible assets (€82 million), other operating and office equipment (€55 million) and to machinery and equipment (€39 million).

In order to reinforce our leading position on the domestic mail market, the key action taken in the MAIL Division consisted in modernising the network as well as optimising the production and distribution of letters and parcels. Besides investing in additional mail-specific software, we purchased materials handling assets, hand-held scanners and innovative machinery that will enable us to process flat mail (large letters) more cost-effectively.

We improved the quality of service in the parcel business. About 900 Packstations enable customers to send and collect parcels around the clock, seven days a week. We also installed Paketboxes that allow customers to drop off franked parcels and small packets. Sorting, franking and wrapping machines were purchased for production purposes in the international mail business, and its information technology was expanded.

In the Global Mail network, we are currently developing a software platform with a view to gradually superseding, extending and harmonising the heterogeneous system architecture.