Parcel locker firm InPost has cautioned that earnings are expected to remain flat this year, revealing significant losses in its UK operations over the crucial Christmas period as it prepares for a near-£7 billion takeover.
The Polish-headquartered company’s UK arm reported an underlying loss of 99.3 million zlotys (£20.1 million) in the fourth quarter, a stark reversal from the 100.1 million zlotys (£20.3 million) earned a year earlier.
InPost stated it took action to “prioritise service quality and maintain capacity during peak season”, capping parcel deliveries and pausing UK restructuring to focus on service “over short-term cost optimisation.”
Integration and accounting costs from its £106 million acquisition of UK parcel delivery group Yodel last year also weighed on earnings. This deal is anticipated to halve UK underlying earnings to 98.8 million Polish zlotys (£20 million) by 2025.
These pressures contributed to a 4 per cent dip in group-wide underlying earnings for the fourth quarter, falling to a worse-than-expected 1.1 billion zlotys (£220 million).
However, annual group earnings still rose 12 per cent to 4.1 billion zlotys (£830 million).
InPost projects no growth in underlying earnings for 2026, attributing this to “lower expected profitability in Poland and the increasing share of the UK in total group results.”
But it said parcel volumes hit record levels of 262.1 million in the UK, boosted by the Yodel deal, and were also a record high across the wider group, with the latter up 25 per cent at 1.4 billion last year.
It comes ahead of a takeover by a consortium led by delivery giant FedEx and private equity firm Advent for €7.8 billion (£6.7 billion), which was agreed in February.
The company will continue under the InPost brand as a standalone firm, with its headquarters in Poland and with founder and chief executive Rafat Brzoska remaining at the helm.
Mr Brzoska said: “2025 was a year of relentless acceleration for InPost.
“We delivered record volumes as well as revenues, and continued to expand our leadership position across Europe.”
He added: “In the UK, following the integration of Yodel, we are investing decisively to build scale and transform the business.
“This includes restructuring initiatives designed to improve efficiency, enhance service quality and improve profitability over time, while continuing the rapid expansion of our automated parcel machine network and reshaping consumer delivery habits.
“As we enter the next chapter, we remain focused on shifting European e‑commerce to out‑of‑home, unlocking operational synergies across our platform and continuing to invest significantly to support our long-term growth.”
The group’s sale is expected to complete in the second half of 2026 and will see InPost expand in its existing markets in France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Benelux and the UK, which is the largest e-commerce market in Europe.
In the UK, the group is looking to more than double the locker points to 30,000 from 14,000 currently, while it also has 5,500 pick-up and drop-off points.
Founded in 1999 by Mr Brzoska, InPost has a network of over 61,000 lockers and more than 33,000 pick-up and drop-off points across nine European countries – Poland, the UK, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
