FAN Courier increased turnover by 22% to 205 million euro this year

FAN Courier estimates that it will end 2020 with a turnover of 205 million euros - close to the “milestone” of 1 billion lei, higher by over 22% compared to the previous year, as effect of the increase in demand for courier services, amid the crisis caused by the pandemic.

The company thus continues the process of consolidating its leading position on the local courier market and market share, registering a growth rate above the industry average.

"The turnover of FAN Courier is approaching, this year, 1 billion lei, a financial objective that we take into account in our medium-term development scenarios. It is an exceptional result, obtained in atypical conditions, with exceptional efforts from the whole team, after a difficult year. If in December 2019 we were talking about consolidating the leading position through an increase similar to previous years, in 2020 we found ourselves thrown into a marathon that we ran in sprint rhythm. It was a year that tested our limits, personal and professional, the ability to adapt quickly to change, responsibility. It was the year in which I understood, more than ever, how important it is to build on a solid foundation, to have a clear strategy in mind, to have a welded team, responsible and able to adapt on the fly, to be prepared to you face the rapid changes in the market ", said Felix Pătrășcanu, managing partner of FAN Courier.

For next year, the company takes into account two growth scenarios and a business advance between 10-20%, taking into account the economic context, still dominated by uncertainties regarding the solution of the health crisis, the existing or forecast decline of some industries, but also the advance of other economic sectors.

"Due to the dynamics of the current crisis, it is not very easy to predict the evolution for next year. Therefore, we are working on two major scenarios that take into account two types of growth: a prudent one and an optimistic one. In the variant in which the sanitary situation begins to relax, but taking into account a slight contraction estimated for some economic branches, for 2021, we take into account an increase of 10%. In the scenario in which the health situation does not show signs of relaxation, and the pressure on courier services generated by online commerce remains high, we estimate a business advance of over 20% ", said Adrian Mihai, co-founder of FAN Courier.

Investments of 15 million euros and 10% more employees

Investments in process automation and increased productivity have been one of the pillars that have helped FAN Courier meet the additional demand generated by the crisis. "The pandemic did not cause a change in the development strategy or investments already established. What we did differently was allocate additional resources to the operational area. This year, we have invested approximately 15 million euros, the funds being directed mainly to the purchase of new vehicles to expand the car fleet, change the PDA infrastructure, invest in IT and digitization, but also to expand sorting and delivery capabilities. We also continued the investments in staff training and the development of new offices ", said Neculai Mihai, co-founder of FAN Courier.

For 2021, the company aims to continue the projects already started - the construction of the new HUB in Cluj Napoca, with a storage capacity of 8,000 sqm, the expansion of the HUB in Brașov with another 2,500 sqm but also the start of a new logistics center in Ștefănești, through which the company will develop fulfillment and logistics services. It will also continue the project of equipping large branches with automatic sorting systems.

Against the background of the increase in the demand for courier services, FAN Courier increased the number of employees by 10% this year, double compared to the estimates at the end of last year and is considering maintaining this pace for next year as well. "Because new technologies have helped us increase productivity and automate an important part of the processes, the increase in the number of employees was not directly proportional to the increase in volumes," explained Neculai Mihai.

The largest discount campaign in Romania, Black Friday, generated a 30% increase this year in the volumes transported by FAN Courier, compared to last year. "In the first weekend after BF, we had over 700,000 parcels, almost 50% above the pre-campaign estimates. It is very interesting that not only online stores in Romania but also stores abroad that have campaigns in the Romanian market have fully contributed to this growth. This year's BF was attended by foreign retailers who sell fashion products, furniture, home & deco, electronics or pet food ", said Adrian Mihai.