For 2019, the Romanian express courier and parcel market is more mature than ever. With a dominant e-Commerce year, the main players were pushed to investments, which we see reflected in the assets increase from €501 million two years before to €637 million last year. On the other hand, the profit did not register an increase, but a decrease of about €3 million, for a total of over €42 million. The ranking of the main courier companies shows small changes of positions compared to 2018, and the Top continues to be led by CN Poșta Română, which has recorded a turnover of almost €270 million, up by about €20 million, followed by FAN Courier, which in 2019 has reached a turnover of almost €168 million, an increase of 13%.
Last year the number of CAEN code 5320 companies has increased to about 2,000, but the first 30 are really important and constantly analysed in Tranzit Top Courier and Parcel Market. If in 2018 the cumulative turnover was about €855 million, in 2019 the Ministry of Finance data shows an increase of €74 million, for a total of €928 million. At this rate, given the fact that in 2020 the online commerce exploded amid the pandemic generated by the new Covid-19, it is expected that by 2020 the figure will reach one billion euros, another evidence that the online domestic retail is the leader segment of the courier market. Moreover, an analysis of KeysFin shows that businesses in the area of postal and courier services will exceed this threshold at the end of the year, reaching about 1.25 billion euros. It should be noted that the courier sector is and will be one of the few sectors which are not affected by the new recession, along with pharmaceuticals and food retail. Last, but not least, these estimates are reinforced by the data provided by the Romanian Association of Online Stores, which shows that in 2019 online commerce exceeded the threshold of 4.3 billion euros.
The main players continue to grow
With an increase of 8% compared to 2018, the State-owned company CN Poșta Română continues to have the highest turnover, with almost €269 million, while the number of employees decreased by 213, reaching 23,191. On the second place in the Tranzit Top remains the largest company on the market, FAN Courier Express, which registered an increase of 13%, up to €167 million, compared to an average number of employees of 2,978, also increasing by 240. „Growth and investment are two positive attributes that have marked the activity both in terms of FAN Courier and the courier market on which we operate. It was a good year, we continued our development“, said Adrian Mihai, co-founder of the company. At the same time, he added, 2019 was marked by a diversity in terms of challenges. If in 2020 we are talking about the pandemic, last year, when this problem had not yet been heard in Romania, the problems faced by the couriers were the poor road infrastructure, which leads to increased delivery times and, implicitly, transport costs, and the lack of labour force. Now, with an increase of home delivery, for this year’s edition of Black Friday, the largest discount campaign practiced by retailers, the company expects to have an average increase of 30% in transported volumes and to exceed the threshold of 500,000 shipments on the first day after the end of the campaign. To meet the peak, FAN Courier has invested over 15 million euros in equipment for delivery and expanded the storage capacity and the fleet, alongside with hiring more couriers. But we will discuss these investments in detail in next year’s analysis.
Returning to our Top, strictly in terms of turnover, the podium is concluded by Urgent Cargus, with almost €96 million, up by only 5%. Delivery Solutions, the company that operates the brand Sameday Courier and part of eMAG group, has the most spectacular increase, of over €16 million, for a total turnover which exceeds €34 million, for eighth place in the Top 10, rising by a position compared to 2018. Large increases are also recorded by DPD Romania (32%), which reached almost €40 million, and Top Prestport Com, a company from Constanța county newly entered the top, which, although it has a figure of only €800,000, registers an increase of 32% compared to 2018. GLS General Logistics Systems Romania in Sibiu occupies the sixth place in terms of figure, the same as in 2018, but it is in top in terms of the difference between the two years, with an increase of 30%. On the last two places, ninth and tenth, are UPS Romania, decreasing with €800,000 compared to 2018, for a total of about €34 million, respectively Nemo Expres Logistic, which has declined a place, with almost €29 million. Overall, the Top 10 companies achieved together a turnover of over €840 million, more than 90% of the market.
