- This financing will enable Poste Italiane to double its daily automated parcel-handling capacity by opening new sorting centres.
- This is the tenth agreement signed since the EIB began working with Poste Italiane around 25 years ago, with total lending to the company reaching almost €3.3 billion.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Poste Italiane have signed a €450 million finance contract aiming to boost service digitalisation and the creation of a more modern, efficient, and sustainable logistics and postal ecosystem. The agreement was signed today in Rome by EIB Vice-President Gelsomina Vigliotti and Poste Italiane CEO Matteo Del Fante.
In concrete terms, lines of action involve automating and digitalising logistics processes by opening new parcel sorting centres (including the first one in southern Italy), migrating software platforms to the cloud, strengthening physical and digital channels to ensure Poste Italiane customers receive excellent service, introducing artificial intelligence tools to underpin the automation and digitalisation of business and operational processes, and improving physical and IT security. The loan also has a green component for direct investment in energy efficiency improvements and the electrification of the company’s vehicle fleet.
All these projects will contribute to speed up Poste Italiane’s transformation from a traditional postal service provider into a full logistics operator, ensuring that its processes are economically and environmentally sustainable.
The EIB has been working with Poste Italiane for around 25 years, with ten agreements signed totalling almost €3.3 billion, of which €1.273 billion (including the new loan, which has not yet been disbursed) is current exposure. This partnership has contributed to the digitalisation of services, the development of IT and logistics infrastructure, sustainable mobility, and energy efficiency.
“Our partnership with Poste Italiane is a concrete example of how financial institutions can work with large companies to promote innovation, sustainability, and energy efficiency,” said EIB Vice-President Gelsomina Vigliotti. “This loan is a key step in ensuring that Poste Italiane can continue to evolve and meet the requirements of a rapidly changing marketplace, offering ever-more efficient and sustainable services to individuals and businesses.”
“This operation supports our role as Italy’s biggest logistics operator and the service digitalisation process launched in recent years,” added Poste Italiane CEO Matteo Del Fante. “The new projects will boost the capacity of our infrastructure, sustainably expanding automated parcel handling and enabling us to meet growing e-commerce-related demand for logistics.”
Background information
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union owned by its Member States. It finances sound investments that can contribute to EU policy. EIB projects strengthen competitiveness, foster innovation, promote sustainable development and improve social and territorial cohesion while supporting a fair and rapid transition towards climate neutrality. In the past five years, the EIB Group has provided more than €58 billion in financing for projects in Italy.
Poste Italiane is the largest service distribution network in Italy, covering activities that range from logistics, letter and parcel delivery and financial and insurance services to payment systems, telecommunications and the energy market. With its over 160-year history, approximately 120 000 employees and 12 800 post offices, total financial assets of €586 billion and 45 million customers, the group occupies a unique position in terms of size, brand recognition, reach and customer loyalty. With a turnover of €12 billion in 2023, its business has a substantial impact on the Italian economy in terms of gross domestic product (GDP), tax revenues, employment and household income. Its total direct, indirect and induced impact on GDP was €13.7 billion in 2023.