Couriers: Holiday period brings a 15-20% decline in delivered parcels

Courier service providers on the Romanian market in June saw the number of delivered parcels and implicitly of revenues go down compared with the previous month, as corporate clients in the telecom, online retail or consulting services sectors sent fewer contracts, invoices and products. "Given that we're entering the period of summer holidays, the number of projects operated by companies is dwindling, and so is the amount of invoices, contracts and other products mailed," said Sorin Ghinescu, marketing and corporate manager with Pegasus (DPD). The company last year posted turnover worth around 23m RON (5.7m euros), flat from the previous year. "June brought a 5% drop in the number of parcels and envelopes sent by corporate clients. We expect a 10% decline in July and of as much as 20% in August," Ghinescu said. The only companies resorting more to courier services during the summer period are those operating in tourism, soft drinks and ice cream sectors. Another courier, Fan Courier, with 40m-euro turnover last year, expects sales to fall by between 10 and 20% this year.