Chunghwa Post’s cross-border e-commerce and logistics service has helped boost mail delivery revenue, the postal company said on Tuesday, with its small-package delivery business growing about 10 percent annually over the past few years.
Statistics from Chunghwa Post showed the company generated an after-tax surplus of about NT$10.6 billion (US$358.6 million) last year, which exceeded its statuary surplus by NT$1.5 billion.
Of the surplus, NT$530 million came from mail delivery, NT$9.78 billion from postal savings and remittances, and NT$295 million from life insurance.
The company’s mail business has finally turned profitable after it accumulated a deficit of NT$9.5 billion over the years, Chunghwa Post president Chen Shian-juh said.
“The surplus was mainly caused by the increase in postage rates for mail and packages in August last year, but we also saw our revenue in the small-package delivery business rise due to the booming e-commerce market across the Taiwan Strait,” he said.
The nation saw an about 4 percent decline each year in the delivery of traditional mail, he added.
However, the business of small-package delivery has grown about 10 percent annually in recent years, he said, adding that growth in this category was 15 percent last year.
The company’s cargo-to-post service is helping some of the small to medium-size businesses in Taiwan develop an online shopping market in China, Chen said.
“The postal system is an established delivery network worldwide, and issues like cargo going through customs and filing custom tax reports would be solved much more easily if the cargo was delivered through the postal system,” he said, adding that the company could also customize its delivery service to meet the demands of business owners.
As part of the government’s New Southbound Policy, Taiwan has signed a memorandum of understanding with Singapore and Vietnam regarding cross-border logistics service partnerships, the company said, adding that similar agreements could be signed with Indonesia, India, Thailand and Malaysia this year.
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