Deutsche Post does not fear further EU fines in on-going probes

Deutsche Post AG does not expect the European Commission to impose
any heavy fines on the group in its on-going anti-trust and state
aid probes, said Deutsche Post director Walter Maschke.

The commission’s probe over alleged disruption of international mail
traffic should only lead to a “symbolic” sanction or fine, he said.

Deutsche Post has ended these practices and reached an agreement
with the UK Post office, he said.

Furthermore the criteria for imposing fines are known and do not
give Deutsche Post any concern, he added.

As for the state aid aspect of the EU’s investigation into the
cross-subsidisation of its loss-making parcel activities with money
stemming from its profit making monopoly area, it should not lead to
any reimbursement, he said.

Deutsche Post does not receive any cash or come under any public
bank guarantee anymore, he said.

The state aid granted earlier on was not necessarily illegal as
there were no clear rules at the time and it could even be
considered as restructuring aid, he said.

Deutsche Post earlier this morning announced the spinning off of its
business parcel unit, to end the illegal cross-subsidisation.

The new legal entity should be operational as of Jan 1 2002 and
affect between 300 to 400 staff.

The unit posted sales between 3 and 4 bln dm in 2000, as well as a
small profit.

“The EU’s spin off order is seen as a chance for Deutsche Post to
make its business parcel operations more flexible and efficient,” he
said.

The 24 mln eur fine imposed on Deutsche Post for abuse of dominant
position by granting fidelity rebates is fully provisioned in 2000’s
accounts and will have no impact on results, he added.

“The amount of the fine did not come as a surprise and it is in our
interest to have this uncertainty factor out of the way,” he said.

de/vh
Copyright 2001 AFX News.
Source: World Reporter (Trade Mark).
AFX EUROPE, 20th March 2001