GROUP OPERATING RESULTS

RECLASSIFIED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF PROFIT OR LOSS

for the six months ended 30 June (€m)20162015Increase/(decrease)
Revenue from sales and services and insurance premium revenue 14,867 13,864 1,003  7.2%
Postal and Business Services 1,855 1,906 (51) -2.7%
Financial Services 2,315 2,341 (26) -1.1%
Insurance Services and Asset Management 10,583 9,495 1,088 11.5%
Other Services 114 122 (8) -6.6%
Other income from financial and insurance activities 2,781 2,055 726 35.3%
Financial Services 512 320 192 60.0%
Insurance Services and Asset Management 2,269 1,735 534 30.8%
Other operating income 34 31 3 9.7%
Postal and Business Services 29 27 2 7.4%
Financial Services 3 3 - n/s
Insurance Services and Asset Management 2 - 2 n/s
Other Services - 1 (1) n/s
Total revenue 17,682 15,950 1,732 10.9%
Cost of goods and services 1,215 1,239 (24) -1.9%
Net change in technical provisions for insurance business and other claims expenses 11,944 10,385 1,559 15.0%
Other expenses from financial and insurance activities 309 305 4 1.3%
Personnel expenses 2,985 2,983 2 0.1%
Capitalised costs and expenses (8) (12) 4 -33.3%
Other operating costs 95 123 (28) -22.8%
Total costs 16,540 15,023 1,517 10.1%
EBITDA 1,142 927 215 23.2%
Depreciation, amortisation and impairments 299 289 10 3.5%
Operating profit/(loss) 843 638 205 32.1%
Finance  income/(costs) 9 27 (18) -66.7%
Profit/(loss) on investments accounted for using the equity method 6 - 6 n/s
Profit/(Loss) before tax 858 665 193 29.0%
Income tax expense 293 230 63 27.4%
Profit for the period 565 435 130 29.9%

n.s.: not significant

Profit for the first half of 2016 amounts to €565 million, an improvement of €130 million on the same period of 2015.
Operating profit is up 32.1% from €638 million for the first half of 2015 to €843 million for the first six months of 2016, benefitting from the positive performances of all the Group operating segments.
The Postal and Business Services segment made a positive contribution of €74 million to operating profit (an operating loss of €89 million in the same period of the previous year), essentially reflecting the positive contribution from the fees paid by BancoPosta RFC in return for use of the Group’s distribution network.
The Financial Services segment recorded a strong performance, with operating profit of €485 million (€456 million in the first half of 2015), primarily linked to non-recurring income generated by the sale of the Group’s investment in Visa Europe Ltd.7, which took place as part of Visa Inc.’s acquisition of this company, and to returns on BancoPosta RFC’s investments.
The Insurance Services and Asset Management segment reports operating profit of €270 million (up 8.9%) and an excellent operating performance, with €10.6 billion in premium revenue during the period (€9.5 billion in the first half of 2015).

Total revenue by operating segment

for the six months ended 30 June (€m)20162015Increase/(decrease)
Postal and Business Services 1,884 1,933 (49) -2.5%
Financial Services 2,830 2,664 166 6.2%
Insurance Services and Asset Management 12,854 11,230 1,624 14.5%
Other Services 114 123 (9) -7.3%
Total revenue 17,682 15,950 1,732 10.9%

Total revenue of €17.7 billion is up 10.9% on the same period of 2015. The improvement primarily reflects the positive performance of insurance services and asset management, where total revenue amounts to €12.9 billion (up 14.5% on the first half of 2015).
Postal and Business Services contributed total revenue €1,884 million, registering a reduction of 2.5% (€1,933 million in the first half of 2015) due to the expected decline in traditional letter post. It should be noted that there has been an ongoing slowdown in the pace of decline in this segment’s total revenue over a number of quarters. This reflects the partial replacement of revenue from traditional letter post with revenue from the parcels business.
Total revenue from Financial Services amounts to €2,830 million, marking an increase of 6.2% due to a rise in “Other income from financial activities”, which is up from €320 million in the first half of 2015 to €512 million in the same period of 2016. This income includes €121 million in non-recurring income generated by the sale of the Group’s investment in Visa Europe Ltd..
Other income from financial activities also benefits from income generated by the active management of available-for-sale financial assets, in which the postal current account deposits of BancoPosta RFC’s private customers are invested.
As noted above, the Insurance Services and Asset Management segment which, from 1 January 2016, also includes the activities of BancoPosta Fondi Sgr, delivered excellent results during the period, with Poste Vita and its subsidiary, Poste Assicura, recording premium revenue of €10.6 billion (premium revenue of €9.5 billion in the same period of 2015). This primarily reflects the performances of traditional Class I investment and savings products, where the Group has built up a strong presence.
Total revenue from Other Services amounts to €114 million (€123 million in the same period of 2015) and is generated by Poste Mobile.

Cost of goods and services

for the six months ended 30 June (€m)20162015Increase/(decrease) 
Services 952 943 9 1.0%
Lease expense 170 179 (9) -5.0%
Raw, ancillary and consumable materials and goods for resale 74 83 (9) -10.8%
Interest expense 19 34 (15) -44.1%
Total 1,215 1,239 (24) -1.9%

The cost of goods and services is down 1.9% from €1,239 million in the first half of 2015 to €1,215 million in the first half of 2016, primarily reflecting a reduction in the cost of funding, represented by interest paid to customers by BancoPosta RFC.
The net change in technical provisions for the insurance business and other claims expenses, which is closely linked to the above growth in premium revenue recorded by Poste Vita, amounts to €11.9 billion (€10.4 billion in the first half of the previous year).
Other expenses from financial and insurance activities are up from €305 million in the first half of 2015 to €309 million in the same period of 2016, reflecting the impact of movements in the fair value of financial instruments held by the subsidiary, PosteVita and by BancoPosta RFC.

Personnel expenses

for the six months ended 30 June (€m)20162015Increase/(decrease)
Salaries, social security contributions and sundry expenses (*) 2,975 2,969 6 0.2%
Redundancy payments 11 17 (6) -35.3%
Net provisions (uses) for disputes (1) (3) 2 -66.7%
Total personnel expenses 2,985 2,983 2 0.1%

n/s: not significant
(*) This includes the follow ing items described in note C8 to the condensed interim financial statements: salaries and w ages; social security contributions; employee termination benefits; temporary w ork; Directors’ fees and expenses; other costs (cost recoveries).

Ordinary personnel expenses, linked to salaries, contributions and sundry expenses, amount to €2,975 million, broadly in line with the first half of 2015 (up 0.2% or €6 million).
The cost of early retirement incentives during the quarter amounts to €11 million (€17 million in the same period of the previous year) and regards management personnel. The cost of early retirement incentives for non-management staff was covered by a portion of the provisions for restructuring charges, made at the end of the previous year to cover the estimated costs to be incurred by Poste Italiane for early retirement incentives for employees leaving the Company by 31 December 2017.