FAN Courier ends 2022 with a turnover of more than EUR 225 million and record investments of EUR 31.5 million
- The leader of the courier market estimates a 15% advance in business in 2023.
- In 2023, the company aims to become the market leader in the Republic of Moldova and expand to other international markets.
- The level of investments achieved this year exceeded EUR 31.5 million, the most important projects being the development of the locker network, the digitization and the expansion of the HUBs and the fleet.
- The number of FAN Courier employees increased from 7,500 to 7,900 in 2022.
FAN Courier estimates that it will end 2022 with a turnover of EUR 225 million, up 10% compared to the previous year, against the background of a year full of challenges and uncertainties. The company continued in 2022 the massive investments in technology, digitization and alternative delivery services, as well as in the expansion and automation of HUBs, constantly strengthening its position as the leader of the courier market. 2022 is the year with a record level of planned and realized investments: EUR 31.5 million.
In 2023, FAN Courier estimates an increase in the courier market by 10-15%, after having reached this year a value of EUR 850 million. In the context of the advance of the industry, FAN Courier predicts a 15% increase in its own business for the next year.
“2022 was a year full of uncertainties and challenges, coming after another two years dominated by the unpredictable nature of the pandemic. This year, the biggest challenge was the proper management of the increase in fuel and energy prices, costs with a significant impact on our current activity. Because of these price increases, we had to raise the rates by 6-7% and introduce the fuel index for each expedition. The impact of the cost increase has been so strong that we expect a significant drop in profitability. We noticed in the market, especially after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, but also due to the chain price increases of basic products, a state of expectation and thoughtfulness among consumers, a state largely generated by the decrease in purchasing power. Among the good news, we can mention an increase in customer interest in alternative deliveries – lockers, Collect Point, etc. -, areas to which we also directed a large part of this year’s investments”, said Adrian Mihai, CEO and co-founder of FAN Courier.
In 2022, online commerce had a weight of 60-65% in the company’s activity, and the estimates remain still growing, especially in the context of the traditional discount campaigns in the last two months of the year.
“This year, by far the largest investment we made was in the development of the FANbox locker network. It is a project that will have a longer implementation period with several stages, which we have already announced. In the first phase, this project required an investment of EUR 10 million, which we did this year. Likewise, we also continued the investments started in previous years at the HUB in Cluj, which we put into use in May, an investment that significantly increased the quality of services, as well as transit volumes. In the medium and long term, our plans are to transform the HUB in Cluj-Napoca into an international one. We also started this year the expansion of the HUB in Brașov, an investment that we will continue in 2023, and we equipped the HUB in Arad with a high-performance sorting system. In addition, at the national level, we have implemented card payment to the courier as well as other digitization solutions, which offer customers simple and fast alternatives to use our services”, said Felix Pătrășcanu, co-founder of FAN Courier.
The investment list for 2023 includes the construction of a new HUB in Ștefănești, which will include a fulfilment warehouse, an office building and part of a courier warehouse, equipped with high-performance sorting and picking technologies. The HUB in Brașov will also be completed next year, which will be equipped with a modern sorting belt. Continued expansion of the nationwide locker network and the purchase of electric cars and investments in sustainability are also priorities in 2023.
FAN Courier aims to be the market leader in the Republic of Moldova and expand to other international markets
In 2022, FAN Courier continued its development in the Republic of Moldova and aims to enter other international markets, starting from 2023. One year after entering the Republic of Moldova and after an initial investment of EUR 3 million, the leader of the Romanian courier market has became an important player in the neighbouring country’s market.
“The activity is within the parameters, although the growth plans have decelerated due to the war in Ukraine, considering that the Republic of Moldova is more affected than Romania by this conflict. We aim to be the market leader in the neighbouring country as well, so we maintain our investment plans and we want to offer customers from the Republic of Moldova access to the European market and those from Romania access to the market in the Republic of Moldova. For 2023, we aim for FAN Moldova to double its number of branches, therefore we will make important investments in the fleet and in the number of employees. At the same time, we are increasingly interested in other international markets and we will identify expansion opportunities, so as to offer customers from Central and Western Europe access to the Romanian market and vice versa”, stated Neculai Mihai, co-founder of FAN Courier.
FAN Courier created the Sustainability and Impact Department
Sustainability is a strategic direction of development taken into account by companies from more and more sectors of activity, so that it is necessary to integrate it into the current business. That is precisely why, starting this year, FAN Courier established the Sustainability and Impact Department, in order to achieve a balance between the needs and interests of all parties involved – environment, employees, shareholders, suppliers, customers, etc. A very important objective assumed, otherwise, by FAN Courier it is the neutralization of the carbon footprint until 2040, being the first Romanian company to sign The Climate Pledge.
At FAN Courier, the concept of sustainability is reflected in the responsibility of each employee, but also in the way of managing waste, for which the company runs awareness and education campaigns among employees in order to obtain an ever-increasing percentage of recycled materials.
As regards the production of renewable energy, in the period 2021-2022, the company invested EUR 1.8 million in a photovoltaic panel installation at its headquarters in Ștefăneștii de Jos. According to the estimates, they will cover approximately 40% of own consumption, and the surplus energy will be distributed in the public network. Likewise, in the future, the electric vehicles in the FAN Courier fleet will be charged with green energy produced “in-house”. Currently, electric mobility is represented by a pilot project of non-polluting deliveries, FAN Courier being one of the courier pioneers that invested in this area.
In terms of packaging, FAN Courier is constantly looking for more and more sustainable alternatives. It has already introduced recycled cardboard envelopes into the offer and has also tested alternative packaging made from recycled plastic. The plan for the first half of next year is to gradually introduce into the system as many recycled plastic bags as possible, thus reducing the impact on the environment. The company also made tests in the area of biodegradable packaging, but these did not prove strong enough for the delivery. FAN Courier is still committed to making efforts to identify and introduce packaging with the lowest environmental impact.
