Yodel shares results highlights for the year ended 30th June 2014
Significant progress made in financial and customer experience transformation programme
Yodel, the UK's leading independent parcel carrier, announces today that it has made significant progress in its focus on financial turnaround, transformation of service quality and, most importantly, customer experience. Notably, the company recorded an annualised improvement in excess of £70 million in EBITDA terms, and expects to move into operating profit for the year 2014/15.
Having completed its restructure in 2012, following the acquisition of DHL Domestic by Home Delivery Network in 2010, the carrier has appointed an entirely new board and is now growing strongly, with parcel volume and revenue increasing by 11% and 12% respectively in the period 31st December 2013 to 30th June 2014. This strong like-for-like growth has continued for the first few weeks of Yodel's current financial year, with volumes approximately 14% up on the corresponding period last year.
This growth is the result of new client wins, often from referrals, strong client retention and increased parcel volumes from existing clients. Base growth has been driven by new streams of volume and returning consumer confidence. Many of Yodel's account wins have been returning clients; testament to the increased confidence in service. The company has also seen significant growth in online flower and wine accounts on the back of its market leading expertise in handling delicate items.
This spring saw the first of Yodel's workforce graduate from the industry's only customer experience academy, a year-long programme designed by Yodel to improve doorstep experience, client and consumer contact.
Over the year, Yodel's TrustPilot score increased from 2.6 to 6.0 and its Net Promoter Score improved from -10.45 to +47.27. While the measures are not yet where Yodel wishes them to be, at these levels they still place it as one of the UK's leading parcel service providers for customer experience.
Neil Lloyd, Yodel's chief executive officer, commented: "As a new management team, we set ourselves a number of tough targets twelve months ago and I am pleased to say that with the support and hard work of the whole Yodel workforce, we have exceeded our goals. We are benefitting from improvements in consumer confidence and we are also taking market share, and, therefore, growing at a faster rate than the parcel volume in the market.
What is crucially important is that we continue to improve customer experience. Consumer opinion is increasingly determining retailers' carrier selection and we have a number of programmes and initiatives, such as our industry leading customer experience academy, which are helping us to serve our clients' customers better."
Yodel's executive chairman, Dick Stead, added: "The UK parcel market remains a crowded and ultra-competitive space.
I am delighted that the range of services we offer through our van delivery network, cost-effective local couriers, rapidly expanding joint venture CollectPlus and our developing international network are winning market share and placing Yodel as the parcel carrier of choice for omni-channel retailers.
Yodel's management and its shareholders remain absolutely focussed on developing a parcel business with a profitable long-term future, offering outstanding customer experience."