2020 saw an increase in profitability at Finland's mail service Posti in spite of the coronavirus pandemic, the firm announced on Wednesday.
In a financial bulletin, Posti's president and chief executive, Turkka Kuusisto, noted that he was very pleased with the company's results, saying that the epidemic prompted a spike in online shopping deliveries.
"During the last quarter, the strong customer demand of our Parcel and eCommerce services continued. The peak season starting from Black Friday and ending to Christmas was very strong for us," Kuusisto said.
"During this period, the Parcel and eCommerce business group broke all previous records and delivered approximately 7.7 million parcels. Overall, our parcel volumes in Finland and the Baltics grew by 47 percent in the fourth quarter," he continued.
The firm said that its net sales had grown by 16 percent to just under 456 million euros in October to December. Meanwhile, Posti's operating profits rose to 33.5 million euros during that period compared to 4.4 million euros a year earlier.
Posti's 2020 adjusted operating profits also increased to 66.1 million euros from 36.2 million euros in 2019.
Residents in Finland sent about 20 percent more greeting cards during the 2020 Christmas season compared to the year before, with the company processing around 18 million holiday cards.
In contrast, however, Posti said the volume of letter mail fell by around three percent in 2020 compared to the previous year.
Kuusisto said that despite the bump in greeting card traffic, the company expects continued changes within the sector.
"We are now at an inflection point. The last year showed the strength and future potential of our Parcel and eCommerce operations as well as logistics services," Kuusisto said in the statement.
Kuusisto also warned that the company needed to be prepared for the possibility that 2021 might not see as much demand for online parcel delivery as 2020.