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(Adds shares in paragraph 2, outlook comments in paras 1, 6, acquisitions costs in para 10)
By Olivier Cherfan
May 3 (Reuters) - Belgian postal operator Bpost missed first-quarter profit expectations on Friday and said its full-year outlook was "pending", as it hopes to conclude talks over the delivery of French-language newspapers by the end of May.
Bpost's shares were down 2.3% at 1137 GMT.
The company has been under pressure from speculation that the country's government could choose other companies for the distribution of newspapers and periodicals.
Last week, Bpost signed a delivery agreement with Flemish newspaper publishers, covering around 75% of the volumes it currently delivers.
"We are doing our utmost to do the same with the French-speaking editors soon," CEO Chris Peeters said in a statement, adding during a call with analysts that it is hoping for a decision by the end of the month.
Bpost, which in March guided for stable operating income in 2024 but did not give a profit forecast, said it would update those targets once the talks were over.
Underlying mail volumes in Belgium, Bpost's main market, fell 6.7% in the quarter, while parcel volumes grew by 2.9%.
Bpost - which also offers shipping services to e-commerce firms in North America, Europe and Asia - posted a 20% drop in first quarter adjusted operating profit from a year earlier to 62.1 million euros ($66.6 million).
That missed analysts' consensus of 69.7 million euros provided by the company.
Bpost said profit was hit by costs of 7.7 million euros related to its acquisition of France-based logistics firm Staci, while difficult market conditions in North America weighed on its logistics business there.
Adjusted operating profit in its E-Logistics North America division fell 41.3% to 8.8 million euros due to lower parcel volumes, missing expectations of 10.6 million euros.
U.S.-based parcel group UPS reported earnings above expectations last month, as cost cuts offset still soft demand for package delivery.
($1 = 0.9319 euros) (Reporting by Olivier Cherfan in Gdansk; editing by Milla Nissi, Kirsten Donovan)