Poland wants state-run postal group Poczta Polska to expand in consumer finance and insurance to revive revenues, but has no plans to privatise it, a deputy minister overseeing the company said.
The group has seen revenues decline over the last few years as its traditional business of delivering letters has been undercut by the rapid growth of parcel delivery services and other private competitors.
"We want to develop the services offered by the post, that is Bank Pocztowy (Post Bank), insurance," Kazimierz Smolinski of the infrastructure and construction ministry told Reuters in an interview this week.
"There is huge potential in Poczta Polska. No bank, no insurance company has so many outlets as Poczta Polska, especially in smaller towns," he said.
Poczta Polska currently has a small exposure to consumer finance and insurance.
The previous government, which left office in October, had considered privatising the group but Smolinski said that was not on the cards for now and Poczta Polska should try to emulate its state-run Italian peer, which offers a wide choice of financial services to the public.
"The market for parcel services is a big challenge for Poczta Polska," Smolinski said.
Moving more aggressively into consumer finance would mean stronger competition for British lenders Provident and Wonga, among the biggest providers of small consumer loans in Poland.
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