TIRANA, May 1 – State-run Posta Shqiptare (Albanian Post) gained some ground against private operators in 2017 when it handled the overwhelming majority of 94 percent of postal items, but generated only 58 percent of the internal market income, according to a report by the electronic and postal communications authority, AKEP.
While the share in postal items handled remained unchanged, the state-run operator increased its revenue share by 1 percentage point. The remaining 10 private operators, some of which subsidiaries of big international delivery service providers, handled only 6 percent of the postal items, but had a market share of 42 percent in terms of income.
Revenue market shares among private operators range from 22 percent for the Albanian subsidiary of German DHL International, followed by FedEx representatives TNT Express Albania with 7.9 percent and Ulysses Enterprises with 6 percent. Albanian-owned Albanian Courier had a 4 percent market share.
Postal operators handled 25 million items in 2017, up only 2 percent compared to 2016.
Postal market income rose to 2.3 billion lek (€17.7 mln), up 10 percent compared to 2016. A tenth of the annual income, some 251 million lek (about €2 mln), was invested, shows the report.
State-run Posta Shqiptare has a nationwide presence with some 568 offices and 2,810 workers, some 88 percent of the total workforce in the postal sector.
While advancement in electronic communication represent huge challenges for postal service providers, e-commerce have increased demand for international package delivery.
Postal operators reported income of about 2 billion lek (€15.3 mln) in 2016, down from 2.8 billion lek (€21 million) in 2012 when the Albanian Post held a 65 percent market share in terms of income.
