Deutsche Post names new Head of ailing DHL U.S. unit
Deutsche Post AG replaced the head of the DHL Express unit’s unprofitable U.S. operations as the company tries to turn the business around.
Ken Allen, 52, previously Chief of DHL Express in eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa, is taking over from Hans Hickler, Chief Executive Officer Frank Appel said at the annual shareholders meeting in Cologne, Germany, today. Hickler will remain on DHL Express’s global management board, said Nicole Mommsen, a company spokeswoman.
Appel is faced with reorganizing DHL’s U.S. express- delivery unit and is under pressure to decide whether to dispose of the company’s majority holding in the Deutsche Postbank AG retail bank. Bonn-based Deutsche Post will present a plan for the U.S. business by the end of May, Appel reiterated today. The CEO also stuck to earnings targets for this year and 2009.
“U.S. express business remains unprofitable and thus not satisfactory,” Appel said. Deutsche Post is reviewing all options for the unit, though a pullout from the U.S. market is “not an option.”
Deutsche Post fell as much as 22 cents, or 1.1 percent, to 20.59 euros in German trading and was down 0.2 percent as of 11:50 a.m. in Frankfurt. The stock has declined 12 percent this year, valuing the company at 25.1 billion euros (USD 38.9 billion).
DHL is the fourth-largest shipper of packages in the U.S., with 5.9 percent of the market, according to data compiled by SJ Consulting Group Inc. UPS is the biggest with 52 percent, followed by FedEx’s 30 percent and the government-owned U.S. Postal Service with 12 percent.
Deutsche Post AG replaced the head of the DHL Express unit’s unprofitable U.S. operations as the company tries to turn the business around.
Ken Allen, 52, previously chief of DHL Express in eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa, is taking over from Hans Hickler, Chief Executive Officer Frank Appel said at the annual shareholders meeting in Cologne, Germany, today. Hickler will remain on DHL Express’s global management board, said Nicole Mommsen, a company spokeswoman.
Appel is faced with reorganizing DHL’s U.S. express- delivery unit and is under pressure to decide whether to dispose of the company’s majority holding in the Deutsche Postbank AG retail bank. Bonn-based Deutsche Post will present a plan for the U.S. business by the end of May, Appel reiterated today. The CEO also stuck to earnings targets for this year and 2009.
“U.S. express business remains unprofitable and thus not satisfactory,” Appel said. Deutsche Post is reviewing all options for the unit, though a pullout from the U.S. market is “not an option.”
Deutsche Post fell as much as 22 cents, or 1.1 percent, to 20.59 euros in German trading and was down 0.2 percent as of 11:50 a.m. in Frankfurt. The stock has declined 12 percent this year, valuing the company at 25.1 billion euros (USD 38.9 billion).
DHL is the fourth-largest shipper of packages in the U.S., with 5.9 percent of the market, according to data compiled by SJ Consulting Group Inc. UPS is the biggest with 52 percent, followed by FedEx’s 30 percent and the government-owned U.S. Postal Service with 12 percent.
