Dutch postal delivery firm PostNL issued a profit warning on Friday, saying the deterioration in the global economy and inflation were hurting consumer spending and expected growth at its parcels unit.

These ‘unprecedented circumstances’ and downturn in consumer spending mean the parcel market had not developed as anticipated, the company said in a statement.

In addition, ongoing wage talks will lead to labour costs going up more than expected, leading the company to take a ‘a prudent approach to filling staff vacancies’.

The company said that ‘as a consequence of the further deteriorating macroeconomic environment and prolonged uncertainty, it is no longer realistic to assume that the current full year 2022 outlook for normalised operating profit will materialise.’

However, PostNL is taking ‘all necessary initiatives to safeguard its service level and the robustness of its financial position’.

News of the profit warning took PostNL shares down some 10% on the Amsterdam stock market in early trading.