PostNL missed the legal requirement to deliver at least 95% of mail on the working day following postage in 2012, consumer authority ACM said on Wednesday.

Of all letters posted in a PostNL postbox, 93.6% reached the recipient the following working day.

The ACM cannot fine the company for missing the target, although from 2014 it will be able to impose a fine of €450,000 or 10% of turnover, according to the Volkskrant.

Reorganisation

PostNL says its delivery service was not running smoothly last year because of reorganisation. Many delivery rounds were altered and plans were being introduced to cut the number of sorting offices to just nine locations nationwide.

That plan has now been changed and the original 260 sorting offices will be reduced to 130.

In 2012, turnover rose slightly to €4.3bn, while net profit reached €678m. In the first quarter of 2013, turnover was €1.07bn but the company booked a €410m loss due a large write-off on its interest in courier company TNT Express.

PostNL delivers around 11 million letters every day and has 81% of the Dutch postal market. A market that continued to shrink in the first quarter and was down 9.5%.