Postal delivery firm TNT booked a slight rise in net profit last year despite the down turn in income from letter delivery.

Net profit from delivering letters fell from €631m in 2009 to €578m. But earnings from TNT’s package delivery service rose from €256m to €335m. The two divisions have been separate since the beginning of this year.
The company forecasts letter delivery volumes will fall by as much as 10% this year, but says it expects the independent unit to pay out ‘stable dividends’ over the next few years.
TNT has finally won union approval for a major overhaul of its delivery service operations, involving the loss of 11,000 jobs.
‘The years 2011 and 2012 will be the most concentrated years of the restructuring, requiring substantial cash outflow and investment. Declining volumes will not be fully offset by savings from this redesign in these years,’ CEO Peter Bakker said in a statement.