Altadis director appointed chairman of Spanish Correos

The Spanish government have appointed the director of the property division of tobacco group Altadis, Damian Santiago Martin, the new chairman of Spanish postal service provider Correos. Mr Santiago Martin replaces Victor Calvo-Sotelo, who has resigned from the company after 18 months there. In 1987 Mr Santiago Martin, who holds a doctorate in business and economics, was appointed to the board of tobacco group Tabacalera, where he remained for six years, before assuming control of the property division of the new firm that arose from the merger of Tabacalera with French firm Seita, Altadis.

Last year, Correos recorded a profit before tax of 186m euros, an increase of 125 per cent on 2002. Turnover was up 5.4 per cent on 2002, totalling 1.749bn euros.