Netherlands-based TNT has reported a 58 per cent fall in first-quarter net profit on the back of shrinking volumes at its express and mail units, saying the situation was expected to continue through the rest of 2009. TNT chief executive Peter Bakker said trading conditions in the first quarter “continued the trend we saw at the end of 2008 and the beginning of this year”, adding that these are “to persist through the rest of the year”. Net profit fell to €76 million from € 179 million a year earlier, while revenue fell 10.3 per cent to € 2.44 billion from € 2.72 billion in the same period a year ago. TNT said last month in a trading update that the drop in its express volumes stabilised during the first quarter while trading at its mail unit continued to decline. “International express volumes are under significant pressure and domestic volumes saw declines as well, but as of February we saw no further acceleration in the decline,” Bakker said. “Nothing has changed with respect to our previously indicated cautious stance towards 2009: we assume trading conditions of Q1 2009 to persist through the rest of the year, although recent stabilisation in Express is a welcomed situation.”