PostNord

PostNord AB

Headquarters of PostNord AB
Type	State-owned company
Industry	Postal services
Predecessors	Post Danmark A/S Posten AB
Founded	24 June 2009[1]
Founders	Danish Government Swedish Government
Headquarters	Solna, Sweden
Key people	Christian W. Jansson (Chairman) Annemarie Gardshol (President & CEO) [2]
Services	Mail Logistics Package delivery
Revenue	SEK 40,156 million (2020)[2]
Operating income	SEK 2,421 million (2020)[2]
Net income	SEK 1,711 million (2020)[2]
Total assets	SEK 30,489 million (end of 2020)[2]
Total equity	SEK 4,906 million (end of 2020)[2]
Owners	Swedish Government (60%) Danish Government (40%)[2]
Number of employees	28,821 (average, third quarter, 2021)[3]
Divisions	PostNord Denmark PostNord Norway PostNord Strålfors PostNord Sweden [4]
Website	postnord.com

PostNord AB is a provider of postal services operating mainly in the Nordic countries. The company was formed on 24 June 2009, under the name Posten Norden, as the holding company in a merger between the Danish and Swedish postal service providers Post Danmark A/S and Posten AB. In 2011, the name of the company was changed to PostNord.^[1][4][5][6]

The owners of PostNord Group are the state of Sweden (60 percent) and the state of Denmark (40 percent). The voting rights are, however, split equally (50/50) between the two owners, and the respective owners name equal numbers of corporate board members.^[7][8]

In 2015, the subsidiary that operates in Sweden changed its name from Posten AB to PostNord Group AB, whereas the name of the legal entity operating in Denmark was not changed.^[9][10] In Sweden, as of 2020, the group is the second largest employer by number of employees, after Volvo Cars.^[11]

History[]

Denmark[]

The precursor of Post Danmark was the Danish national postal service, Postvæsenet, which was founded in 1624 as King Christian IV issued a regulation on the transmission of letters.^[12] During its early history, the Danish postal service was operated under private as well as royal control, but it was nationalized in 1711. Already before the nationalization, the postal service had introduced uniforms in red and yellow. These colors have since then remained the distinguishing marks of the organization.

The first Danish postage stamp was issued in 1851. In 1927, the Danish postal and telegraphy services were merged under the name Post- og Telegrafvæsenet. In 1990, the telecommunications business was spun off into a separate joint-stock company, and in 1995, the postal operations were transferred to the wholly state-owned company Post Danmark A/S.

Sweden[]

The history of Posten AB reaches back to 1636, when the regency government during the minority of Queen Christina issued regulations on postal services. Previous to that, transmission of letters had been organized on behalf of the government and the church. For periods of several years from the 1650s to the 1670s, postal services in Sweden were entrusted to private monopolies, but from 1677, and onwards until the late 20th century, they were provided by a government-controlled monopoly. The monopoly was abolished in 1993.^[13]

Beginning 1685, the Swedish postal service stamped letters to mark that the delivery had been paid for by the sender. Postage stamps were first issued in 1855.^[14]

Already by the time of the foundation, a post horn with a crown was used as the symbol of the Swedish postal service. The appearance of the symbol was standardized for the first time in 1912 and then changed several times in the 20th century, as well as in 2001.

In 1994, the operations of the Swedish postal service were transferred to the wholly state-owned joint-stock company Posten AB.

Merger[]

Mail van from PostNord i Skogås, Sweden.

Electric mail van from PostNord in Ystad, Sweden 2021.

The companies Post Danmark A/S and Posten AB merged in June 2009, through a transfer of ownership to the holding company Posten Norden AB.^[15] On 17 May 2011, the holding company changed its name to PostNord AB.^[6] The merger was preceded by a review acccording to European Union competition law, and it was approved on the condition that overlapping businesses dealing with package delivery to business customers in Denmark were divested.^[16] Around 2013, the company inititated a gradual change of livery on its Swedish vans and trucks to the PostNord name and color (from yellow to light blue).^[17] Initially, the change mainly affected package delivery trucks, but since 2015, it has been applied to all aspects of the Swedish operations.^{[18][19][20][21]}

Developments in the 21st century[]

With the internet and the increased digital handling of messages and other services, the number of physical letters sent has decreased markedly. Between 2000 and 2020, it decreased by approximately 80 percent in Denmark and by 53.6 percent in Sweden.^[22][23] Since the early 2010s, the strategy has been to focus more on the package delivery business, which is affected positively by increased e-commerce volumes.^[15][24] Another area where PostNord has been active since the early 21st century is the management of secure electronic messages from governments and companies to individual recipients.^[25][26]

Market[]

A large majority of PostNord's revenue is derived from markets in the Nordic countries (except Iceland). PostNord performs package delivery in all of these markets and mail delivery in Denmark and Sweden. The volumes of these activities are reported by country. However, the business area PostNord Strålfors, which deals with organizations that need to communicate with large groups of people, only reports numbers that include all markets.^[2][27]

Sponsorship[]

PostNord has been the sponsor of the Finland national basketball team.^[28]

References[]

This Danish corporation or company article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

• v
• t

This Swedish corporation or company article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

• v
• t