Deutsche Post to postpone launch of free weekly until autumn

Deutsche Post AG will keep plans to launch a free weekly newspaper on hold until autumn to allay criticism from Germany’s newspaper publishers and from politicians, Financial Times Deutschland reported, citing company sources.

The postal services company is seeking to keep a lower profile after it was criticised for being exempt from Germany’s general sales tax and chief executive Frank Appel is trying to prevent the project from being discussed at the company’s annual general meeting on Tuesday, Financial Times Deutschland said.

Deutsche Post had initially worked on a weekly publication with a focus on news about the Internet, telecommunication and computer, which was slated to be distributed to households for free and generate revenues from advertising.