Evri: we have never been as relevant

Evri Limited today announces it grew adjusted EBITDA by a third to £292m in its last financial year after a £32m investment in its customer service and operations drove record parcel volumes which outperformed the market.

The company’s record annual results underline Evri’s continued growth as it unveiled a target to become a billion-parcel-a-year business within five years, by capitalising on parcel volume growth from new retail client wins; its SME proposition; the rising trend for online marketplaces and social media; together with inbound and outbound international expansion.

As the UK’s biggest dedicated parcel delivery company, Evri grew parcel volumes by 14.9%1,2 to more than 730m in the 53 weeks to 29 February 20242 – reaching around 85% of UK households – while total revenue rose by 15.2% to more than £1.7bn2. During 2024-25, the company has extended its out-of-home pick-up and drop-off locations to over 16,000.

This also now includes branches of the Post Office, which is offering delivery services other than Royal Mail for the first-time in its 360- year history, after it signed a landmark partnership with Evri in 2023.

Evri is on track to nearly double investments in its operations in fiscal year 2024-25, including significant capital allocation to technology, data and analytics initiatives – designed to continuously improve the customer experience.

 Martijn de Lange, CEO of Evri, said: “For 50 years we have been delivering parcels and we have never been as relevant, powering the ecommerce ambitions of record numbers of clients, marketplaces, SMEs and consumers. Evri had a record year – delivering more parcels than ever with over 99% arriving on time, a reflection of the ongoing dedication and hard work of our colleagues and couriers.”

He continued: “The company’s best-ever year was underpinned by significant investment in our operations and customer service, as well as deepening our relationships with retailers and forging new partnerships.

“The growth of online marketplaces including value-led market entrants and the rising popularity of pre-loved fashion, which shoppers see as an affordable and sustainable option, have reshaped shopping habits. Our differentiated, flexible business model and focus on service means the business is well placed to take advantage of new consumer trends, such as these.

“This unique model together with the business’ track record of growth, and progress in executing our ambitious business plan were key factors that attracted Apollo Funds to acquire Evri in August. We are confident of further success under our new owner, who is committed to accelerating our growth strategy.

“We have been pleased to sustain the strong trading momentum into the current financial year, as we have continued to deliver double-digit revenue growth amid

a more positive outlook for ecommerce in the UK and overseas in the short and long term.”

Today’s results update follows the completed acquisition of Evri by Apollo Funds in August 2024.

 Apollo Partner Alex van Hoek said: “Evri has an innovative model, great technology and purpose-built infrastructure for reliable, lower emissions delivery in the fast-growing e-commerce market. Evri puts the customer first, and we are pleased to see this continue to come through in their results, whether measured by on-time parcel volumes, new strategic partnerships, or investments in operations.”

 Growth platform underpinned by investment

Evri’s strong performance was driven by investment of over £32m in operations and customer services in 2023-24, including hiring more than 6,500 couriers – to achieve a 99% on-time delivery rate for standard parcels.

Evri invested more than £10m into improving its customer service functions, as part of its “Answer for everyone” strategy. This included the successful launch of a new chatbot and callback feature to deliver responses to customers within 24 hours, resulting in a marked increase in consumer satisfaction levels.

Evri’s “self-employed plus” (SE+) courier model is the UK’s only union backed courier initiative, and the scheme has attracted a stable backbone of couriers on SE+, who work regularly for the business on an on-going basis. This pioneering model provides paid holidays, guaranteed rates of pay, pension contributions, parental leave and additional flexible benefits. In addition, during 2023-24, Evri enhanced the support it provides to any new courier joining the business. This includes the introduction of new starter payments to supplement courier earnings during their first few weeks.

Over the course of 2024-25, Evri plans to invest around £57m to meet growing demand for services and to further improve its operations and the customer journey. This includes adding capacity to its Barnsley ‘Super Hub’, as well as investment in technology and data analytics to improve tracking, operational planning and cyber security.

 A growing and more diverse business

The company’s growth last year was further underpinned by the successful broadening of its commercial partnerships as well as strengthening its long-term

relationships with more than two-thirds of the UK’s biggest retail brands, including JD Sports, Next, and Marks & Spencer.

Evri signed several new strategic partnerships in 2023-24, unlocking opportunities for volume growth and serving new customer segments.

• In May 2023, Evri was made an accredited Seller Fulfilled Prime carrier for Amazon’s Prime service to deliver parcels on behalf of all merchants on their website.
• In November 2023, Evri signed a significant deal with Post Office, meaning customers can send, collect, and return Evri parcels over the counter in more than 2,550 Post Office branches currently, with the opportunity for more in the future.
• Also in November, Evri entered a new partnership with Tesco, to allow customers to collect Tesco Clubcard points every time they send a parcel with Evri.

 Investment in Sustainability

Evri is committed to becoming the leading sustainable parcel delivery company – targeting net-zero emissions by 2035, building the largest sustainable fleet in the sector, and using 100% renewable energy.

In 2024, Evri announced a further £19m multi-year investment in sustainability to drive the company’s ambitions – including growing its fleet of e-cargo bikes to 3,000 over the next decade, giving it the UK’s biggest fleet of e-cargo bikes for parcel delivery.

 Latest trading

Strong parcel volumes have continued into the first half of 2024-25. Group Revenue for the 26 weeks ended 31 August 2024 was £865m up 10.6% on the prior year, despite the Group’s strong trading in 2023-24.

Whilst the consumer trends we have seen over the last two years, including the growth of online marketplaces (including value-led market entrants and pre-loved platforms) have continued to be a feature, parcel growth in H1 2024-25 has been broad based across client segments. We have seen significant contribution from the positive conversion of the new business pipelines, the continued growth of SME volumes and an improvement in the performance of our UK corporate segment, following a period of post-COVID-19 market normalisation.

The BRC- KPMG retail monitor reported a return to year-on year growth in non-food online sales over the summer. July and August market growth was 0.3% and 1.5% respectively, particularly driven by growth in clothing and health & beauty products and summer promotional activity. Year on year market growth increased to 3.4% in September 2024, the strongest market growth post Covid.

The stronger market conditions we have seen in recent months, support a more positive outlook in the general consumer backdrop, compared to the last two years. We remain on track to report growth in revenue and adjusted EBITDA in 2024-25, supported by higher volumes.