Speedy

Courier services provider Speedy’s shareholders approve employee stock options plan, according to the disclosed minutes from the shareholders’ meeting held on December 14th, 2016.

Speedy will issue 42 900 new ordinary shares with a nominal and issue price of BGN 1 per share. The new shares are to be subscribed by key non-executive board members as well as key managing personnel who are at least 3 years with the Company.

The subscription is planned to begin April 1st and end June 30th, 2017. ELANA Trading is the broker who will provide service for the capital hike, the servicing bank is Unicredit Bulbank.

2016 – low profits due to heavy investing in Romania

Profitability of Speedy slashed in 2016 due to heavy investing in Romania. Margins to recover H2 2017 onward on 20%+ growth in Romania.

In November DPD Romania, which Speedy bought in 2014, announced it has invested 1 million euro ($1.07 million) in a new logistics centre in the city of Sibiu. The 4,400 sq m logistics centre in central Romania will have a sorting capacity of 50,000 parcels per day and will employ 60 people, the company said in a press release. In August, DPD inaugurated a 4,800 sq m hub in Mogosoaia, near Bucharest, following a 1.5 million euro investment. In February, DPD said it targets a 30% rise in turnover to 26.6 million euro in 2016, backed by a new business line. The courier company has over 600 employees and suppliers in Romania and delivers 7 million parcels per year.

About Speedy

Established 1998, Speedy is the largest courier company in Bulgaria with 37% market share. It is also the 2nd largest postal service provider after the incumbent Bulgarian Post. The company is also one of the fastest growing companies in the country with high brand recognition. Its core business is door to door standard and express delivery services that represent 95% of the revenues. In 2014, Europe’s 2nd largest land courier service provider GeoPost SA, part of the French La Poste Group, acquired 25% in Speedy at a 8x EV/EBITDA and with the option to increase its stake to 70% by 2020. Reversely, Speedy acquired GeoPosts’s subsidiaries in Bulgarian and Romania – GeoPost Bulgaria and DPD Romania, with the strategic goal of expanding on the Romanian market. Speedy’s founder – Valeri Mektupchian and managers currently are managing the Romanian business restructuring. It aims at transposing Speedy’s proven business model in Romania as well.

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