4.1 Adjusted net debt
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.
As at 31 December 2023, adjusted net debt amounted to €462 million (2022: €467 million). The decrease 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.
Reference is made to note 3.4 Leases, note 3.5 Provisions for pension liabilities and note 3.10 Commitments and contingencies for more detailed information on leases (on and off balance) and pensions.
Long-term interest bearing assets
Long-term interest bearing assets
As at 31 December 2023, long-term interest-bearing assets of €15 million (2022: €17 million) mainly included a lessor loan of €13 million (2022: €16 million) relating to the finance lease of a sorting machine by Bol.com. The expected credit loss amounts to €0 million.
Cash and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents
PostNL Cash and cash equivalents in € million
2022, 2023
| At 31 December | Nominal amount | Average amount | Effective interest rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash at bank and in hand | 127 | ||
| Bank deposits | 205 | 107 | 0.39% |
| Money Market Funds | 224 | 281 | (0.22%) |
| Total cash and cash equivalents 2022 | 556 | ||
| Cash at bank and in hand | 204 | ||
| Bank deposits | 80 | 160 | 3.0% |
| Money Market Funds | 234 | 218 | 3.2% |
| Total cash and cash equivalents 2023 | 518 |
As at 31 December 2023, included in cash and cash equivalents was €0 million (2022: €0 million) of restricted cash. The fair value of cash and cash equivalents approximated the carrying value.
Debt
Debt
As at 31 December 2023, the total of debt-related liabilities consisted of long-term debt of €612 million (2022: €980 million) and short-term debt of €447 million (2022: €96 million).
PostNL Total borrowings - maturity schedule in € million
2023
| Eurobonds | Lease liabilities | Other loans | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 353 | 80 | 15 | 447 |
| 2025 | 0 | 66 | 10 | 76 |
| 2026 | 299 | 52 | 10 | 360 |
| Thereafter | 0 | 122 | 54 | 176 |
| Total borrowings | 651 | 320 | 88 | 1,059 |
| Of which included in long-term debt | 299 | 240 | 73 | 612 |
| Of which included in short-term debt | 353 | 80 | 15 | 447 |
In 2023, the other loans of €88 million included the liability of future (legal) lease payments for land, buildings and machinery of four Parcels' sorting centres and sorting machines with an effective interest rate of 1.3% up until 3.9% and a short-term pre-lease financing with an interest rate of Euribor +0.4%.
The following table presents the cash and the non-cash changes in debt during 2023.
PostNL Reconciliation debt in € million
2023
| Eurobonds | Lease liabilities | Other loans | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Balance at 1 January 2023 | 697 | 331 | 48 | 1,076 |
| Proceeds | 19 | 19 | ||
| Repayments/lease-incentives | (47) | (81) | (4) | (132) |
| Total cash movements | (47) | (81) | 15 | (113) |
| New leases | 61 | 61 | ||
| Lease modifications/reassessments | 10 | 10 | ||
| Disposal of leases | (1) | (1) | ||
| Pre-financing related to building of NLI/sorter | 25 | 25 | ||
| Commencement of SPV financing | 37 | 37 | ||
| Settlement of pre-financing | (37) | (37) | ||
| Amortisation | 1 | 1 | ||
| Total non-cash movements | 1 | 70 | 25 | 96 |
| Balance at 31 December 2023 | 651 | 319 | 88 | 1,059 |
In 2023, the €25 million (2022: €16 million) non-cash movement relates to the financing of lease contracts by an entity especially set up for this purpose by a third party (SPV). The financing was established via a pre-financing during the building phase. The pre-financing was performed via a specific revolving credit facility. In 2023, at the time of the related sale and lease back transactions, an amount of €37 million of pre-financing was replaced by financing from the SPV. At 31 December 2023, the remaining pre-financing balance amounted to €4 million.
Refer to note 4.5 for more details on the current outstanding eurobonds.
The following table presents the cash and the non-cash changes in debt during 2022.
PostNL Reconciliation debt in € million
2022
| Eurobonds | Lease liabilities | Other loans | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Balance at 1 January 2022 | 697 | 333 | 36 | 1,066 |
| Proceeds | 0 | 0 | ||
| Repayments | (74) | (4) | (78) | |
| Total cash movements | 0 | (74) | (4) | (78) |
| New leases | 58 | 58 | ||
| Lease modifications/reassessments | 13 | 13 | ||
| Pre-financing related to building of NLI/sorter | 16 | 16 | ||
| Amortisation | 1 | 1 | ||
| Total non-cash movements | 1 | 71 | 16 | 88 |
| Balance at 31 December 2022 | 697 | 331 | 48 | 1,076 |