Austrian postal tariffs unchanged
Austrian postal company Oesterreichische Post AG (Post) does not plan an increase of its postal tariffs in the short term, Post AG CEO Anton Wais said on September 29, 2005.
After the last increase in tariffs in 2003 Post AG said it would not revise them until the end of 2006. What will happen in 2007 will be planned in 2006, Wais said, adding that the postal tariffs were too low. The present stamp for a standard letter costs 0.55 euro ($0.66) in Austria and is in the top quarter of the European Union (EU) average. Only Denmark, Italy, Finland and Sweden charge more while the tariffs in Germany are the same.
Post (www.post.at) will continue to pay dividends over the next few years, despite growing costs, Wais said.
Post AG is to be listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange (VSE) in the first half of 2006.
The general director of German postal company Deutsche Post Klaus Zumwinkel said at the beginning of the week that his company would cut its tariffs by an average 0.2 pct. Post AG does not plan any tariffs reduction, Wais said.
The competition on Austria’s postal market is moderate similar to the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Malta, according to a survey carried out by the European Commission, which showed the biggest competition in the sector was in Germany.
Wais acknowledged that competition offered more attractive prices but Post AG will offset them with better quality. The company invested 350 mln euro ($421.72 mln) in new mail distribution and delivery centres and 50 mln euro ($60.25 mln) in the expansion of its parcel delivery network.
Adapted by AII Data Processing for APA.
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