Adjusted net debt
As at 31 December 2023, adjusted net debt amounted to €462 million (2022: €467 million). The improvement of €5 million mainly resulted from positive net cash from operating and investing activities of €120 million and a decrease in pension liabilities of €16 million, partly offset by dividend payments of €29 million, new leases of €41 million, new loans related to the building of new Parcels' sorting centres of €25 million and negative net cash from discontinued operations of €16 million. See note 4.1 Adjusted net debt to the Consolidated financial statements for more information.
PostNL Adjusted net debt in € million
2022 - 2023
| At 31 December | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Short- and long-term debt | 745 | 740 |
| Long-term interest bearing assets | (17) | (15) |
| Cash and cash equivalents | (556) | (518) |
| Net debt | 172 | 207 |
| Pension liabilities | 18 | 2 |
| Lease liabilities (on balance) | 331 | 320 |
| Lease liabilities (off balance)1 | 29 | 9 |
| Deferred tax assets on lease liabilities2 | (83) | (76) |
| Adjusted net debt | 467 | 462 |
- The lease liabilities (off balance) are the net present value of the Off balance sheet commitments relating to leases from note 3.10 of €10 million (2022: €34 million).
- The deferred tax assets relate for €74 million (2022: €75 million) to on balance lease liabilities, see note 3.8 Deferred income taxes and for €2 million (2022: €8 million) to off balance lease liabilities.
Leverage ratio
The leverage ratio, being adjusted net debt divided by adjusted EBITDA, improved from 1.9 in 2022 to 1.7 in 2023, below our target to not exceed 2.0.
PostNL Leverage ratio in € million, unless indicated otherwise
2022 - 2023
| Year ended at 31 December | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Adjusted net debt | 467 | 462 |
| Operating income1 | 66 | 84 |
| Depreciation, amortisation and impairments | 156 | 177 |
| Proxy for short-term leases and leases of low-value assets | 4 | 4 |
| Normalisations on EBIT1 | 17 | 7 |
| Reversal of normalised depreciation, amortisation and impairments | (0) | (1) |
| Adjusted EBITDA | 243 | 271 |
| Leverage ratio | 1.9 | 1.7 |
- 2022 excluding change in pension accounting classification