Postal company TNT announced a 60% fall in net profit to €81m in the second quarter of this year compared to the same 2008 period in a statement on Monday.

Europe’s second largest mail firm said it has increased its cost savings target for 2009 to between €550m and €600m, up from €400m. According to news agency Reuters, TNT has achieved savings of €275m so far this year.
TNT has announced an interim dividend of €0.18 per share to be paid out either in cash or shares.
In his statement, TNT CEO Peter Bakker said he expects ‘tough trading conditions to persist in the second half of the year as early signs pointing towards improvements in the general economic climate in the second half of 2009 are still too uncertain to indicate a positive trend line development.’
The results are clearly better than expected, says analist Maarten Bakker of Fortis Bank Nederland on the Financieele Dagblad website: ‘The lowest point is behind us in the first quarter.’
The FD says TNT shares were almost 5% higher in early morning trading.
TNT operates in 200 countries and employs over 163,000 staff. The company posted revenues of just over €11bn in 2008.