Postal delivery firm PostNL issued a profit warning for 2023 on Friday, saying package deliveries in the final quarter of the year were less than expected.

The last few months of the year are extremely important to PostNL because of the Sinterklaas and Christmas sales and the company had invested in maximum capacity to ensure timely delivery following problems in earlier years.

Dutch consumers ordered fewer products from domestic companies and more from abroad, which are less profitable, PostNL said. “The high illness rate also remained a matter of concern and put more pressure on costs than anticipated,” chief executive Herna Verhagen said.

Higher costs plus lower sales will lead to pre-tax profit of some €92 million, well down on the earlier forecast of €100 million plus.

The company will publish definitive figures on February 26.