3.4 Leases
Accounting policies
PostNL leases sorting centres, sorting machines, distribution centres, offices, warehouses, trucks, vans, cars, transport equipment and other equipment. Leases are recognised as a right-of-use asset and a corresponding liability at the date at which the leased asset is available for use by the group. At the commencement date of the lease, the lease liabilities are measured at the present value of lease payments to be made over the lease term. Right-of-use assets are measured at cost, less any accumulated depreciation and impairment losses, and adjusted for any remeasurement of lease liabilities. The cost of right-of-use assets includes the amount of lease liabilities recognised, initial direct costs incurred, and lease payments made at or before the commencement date less any lease incentives received.
The lease payments are discounted using the interest rate implicit in the lease. If that rate cannot be readily determined, the incremental borrowing rate is used, being the rate that would have to be paid to borrow the funds necessary to obtain an asset of similar value to the right-of-use asset in a similar economic environment with similar terms, security and conditions.
The lease payments include the exercise price of a purchase option reasonably certain to be exercised by PostNL and payments of penalties for terminating the lease, if the lease term reflects PostNL exercising the option to terminate. Lease payments to be made under reasonably certain extension options are also included in the measurement of the liability.
PostNL elected to apply the practical expedient not to separate non-lease components from lease components, and instead account for each lease component and any associated non-lease components as a single lease component. PostNL also elected the practical expedient not to apply the requirements for short-term leases (with a lease term of 12 months or less and which do not contain a purchase option) and leases for which the underlying asset is of low value (<€5,000). The lease payments associated with these leases are recognised as an expense on a straight-line basis over the lease term.
PostNL Right-of-use assets in € million
2023
| Land and buildings | Transport | Other | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Historical cost | 298 | 153 | 24 | 474 |
| Accumulated depreciation and impairments | (89) | (79) | (12) | (180) |
| Balance at 1 January 2023 | 209 | 75 | 11 | 295 |
| New leases | 15 | 44 | 2 | 61 |
| Lease modifications/reassessments | 8 | 2 | 10 | |
| Disposals | (2) | (2) | ||
| Depreciation | (37) | (32) | (2) | (72) |
| Total changes | (16) | 15 | (2) | |
| Historical cost | 311 | 183 | 25 | 519 |
| Accumulated depreciation and impairments | (119) | (93) | (14) | (226) |
| Balance at 31 December 2023 | 192 | 89 | 11 | 293 |
PostNL Right-of-use assets in € million
2024
| Land and buildings | Transport | Other | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Historical cost | 311 | 183 | 25 | 519 |
| Accumulated depreciation and impairments | (119) | (93) | (14) | (226) |
| Balance at 1 January 2024 | 192 | 89 | 11 | 293 |
| New leases | 20 | 25 | 2 | 47 |
| Lease modifications/reassessments | 12 | 6 | 18 | |
| Disposals | (2) | (2) | ||
| Depreciation | (37) | (35) | (2) | (74) |
| Total changes | (6) | (6) | (12) | |
| Historical cost | 329 | 202 | 26 | 556 |
| Accumulated depreciation and impairments | (142) | (118) | (15) | (275) |
| Balance at 31 December 2024 | 186 | 84 | 11 | 281 |
In 2024, the new leases of €47 million mainly related to the replacement and expansion of buildings, vans and trucks. The new leases of €61 million in 2023 mainly related to a new sorting and delivery centre in Belgium within Parcels and the replacement and expansion of buildings, vans and trucks. In 2024, the lease modifications/reassessments of €18 million (2023: €10 million) mainly reflected changes to the lease payments and lease terms.
In 2024, the disposals of €2 million mainly related to several disposed contracts from trucks (2023: €2 million related to disposed contracts from buildings).
The right-of-use assets include a number of Parcels' sorting centres and sorting machines financed and owned by an entity especially set up for this purpose by a third party. The term of the related lease contracts and liabilities is 10 years. Since 2018 to 31 December 2024, 7 sorting centres and sorting machines have been finalised and leased from this special entity, for which the related right-of-use assets for 3 locations and corresponding lease liabilities have been recorded. For the other 4 locations property, plant and equipment assets with a total book value of €86 million at 31 December 2024 and corresponding (legal) lease loan have been recorded, reference is made to note 3.2.
Additionally, the right-of-use assets include four mail sorting centres and the international sorting centre with lease terms varying between 5 and 10 years (started in 2020) and the head office in The Hague with a lease term of 15 years (started in 2021).
PostNL Lease liabilities in € million
2023, 2024
| At 31 December | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Long-term lease liabilities | 240 | 221 |
| Short-term lease liabilities | 80 | 78 |
| Total | 320 | 299 |
The total cash outflow from leases amounted to €96 million (2023: €94 million) and related for €84 million to repayments of lease liabilities (2023: €81 million), and for €12 million to rent and lease expenses (2023: €13 million). Refer to note 4.1 for further information on the lease liabilities.
In 2024, rent and lease expenses of €12 million (2023: €13 million) relate for €11 million (2023: €11 million) to short-term leases and for €1 million (2023: €2 million) to leases for which the underlying asset is of low value. The interest expenses on lease liabilities amounted to €10 million (2023: €9 million).