Itella Group
What does Itella do and which services does it provide?
Who owns Itella?
How does Itella finance its operations?
What kind of business organisation does Itella have?
How was Itella's most recent financial performance?
In which countries does Itella operate?
How big an employer is Itella?
How much does Itella pay in dividend and taxes to the State?
Why has the company name been changed from Finland Post to Itella?
What is Itella's history?
What does the name 'Itella' mean?
What does Itella do and which services does it provide?
Itella's task is to manage customers' important information and goods flows - physically and digitally. Itella operates in mail communication, information logistics and logistics.
For consumers, we offer important daily mail services on every working day. We also manage a significant part of early morning newspaper delivery services. We provide corporate services in three business areas:
- Paper-based communication and delivery services (Itella Mail Communication and Itella Information)
- Multi-channel information logistics services for information flow management (Itella Mail Communication and Itella Information)
- Service logistics solutions for goods flow management (Itella Logistics).
Who owns Itella?
The Finnish Government owns all of Itella's shares. The ownership policy of Itella and other state-owned companies has been managed by the Ownership Steering Department of the Prime Minister's Office since 1 May 2007. Itella Corporation has been classified as a state company operating on the free market, and the aim of the state as its owner is to achieve the best possible economic result at any given time. The attainment of this objective is assessed on the basis of profitability and long-term growth in shareholder value.
How does Itella finance its operations?
Itella's operations are financed through income from customers. In Finland, the state does not provide any subsidies to postal service providers. Postal services are also subject to value-added tax, which is different from most other EU countries.
What kind of business organisation does Itella have?
Itella Corporation is a state-owned company, operating as a limited company since 1994. In 2001, it became a public limited company (Oyj).
How was Itella's most recent financial performance?
The most recent report can be found on the Financials page. Itella's consolidated net sales for 2007 came to EUR 1,688.3 million, generated by the following three business groups:
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Itella Mail Communication: EUR 893.8 million, accounting for 51%
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Itella Information: EUR 201.1 million, accounting for 12%
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Itella Logistics: EUR 619.8 million, accounting for 36%
Companies and other organisations represent 95% of Itella's net sales. However, consumers form the number one recipient group for delivery services, which makes them important both to sending companies and Itella.
A total of 25% of net sales come from outside Finland.
In which countries does Itella operate?
Itella Group operates in the following ten Northern European countries through its subsidiaries: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Russia and Sweden.
How big an employer is Itella?
Itella Group is Finland's second largest employer in the corporate sector, employing a staff of 25,211 at the end of 2007. After the acquisition of OOO Itella-NLC, implemented in the autumn 2008, the total number of Itella employees totals some 30,000.
How much does Itella pay in dividend and taxes to the State?
In 2007, Itella paid EUR 39 million in dividends and EUR 29 million in taxes, in addition to VAT of 22% on postal services.
Why has the company name been changed from Finland Post to Itella?
Many years of renewal and diversification formed the basis for the name change on 1 June 2007. Logistics, dealing with the management of goods flows, and information logistics, dealing with the management of information flows, form an increasing share of company operations. Postal services in Finland still constitute an important base for our operations, but their relative share has declined steadily. At present, letter services account for approximately one quarter of net sales.
A key basis for the change was that the familiar name ‘Posti’ was to be retained in postal services for consumers. We use it as a marketing name for all consumer services in Finland. Read more in this media bulletin.
What is Itella's history?
The Finnish postal system was established in the Kingdom of Sweden in 1638, when the Stockholm-Narva postal route opened. In 1811, two years after Finland was ceded to the Russian Empire as an autonomous grand duchy, a central postal administration was established within the postal services. During the period after Finland became independent, in 1927 the Finnish Post merged with the Telegraph. In 1981, Post and Telegraph was renamed Post and Telecommunications, which in 1990 became a state-owned enterprise. In 1994, the Post became an independent state-owned enterprise within Suomen PT Group (Post and Telecommunications Group). Suomen PT Group was demerged as Post Group and Telecommunications Group in 1988, with Tele being renamed Sonera and in 2001 Finland Post became Finland Post Corporation (Oyj). Finland Post Group has operated in nine Northern European countries since 2006 and has marketed its consumer services under the familiar Posti brand, and corporate services under the Itella brand. 1.6.2007 the group changed name to Itella Oyj.
You can familiarise yourself with the Group's history at the Post Museum housed within the Helsinki General Post Office.
What does the name 'Itella' mean?
The name Itella was created within the Group, as a result of brainstorming. The word 'Itella' has no specific meaning as such. The name Itella was introduced for the first time by the information logistics business group, but it expanded to cover the entire Group on 1 June 2007. On an international scale, we deliver services under the Itella brand for corporate customers.
