The week that was: 25 November 2011
Summing up the top stories of the week on Post&Parcel, including a profit increase for Royal Mail, Deutsche Post closing a mail subsidiary, trouble mounting for USPS and innovation in the parcel market at Hermes UK.
Royal Mail modernisation “beginning to deliver results”
Royal Mail profits swelled in the first half of the year, tripling those seen last year, as a price rise and cost-cutting efforts helped revenues grow 5% year-on-year.
Core mail services were losing money, with letter volumes declining 6%, but parcel volumes increased 5%, while the Group’s Post Office subsidiary and European parcel unit GLS helped keep the group as a whole in profit.
CEO Moya Greene commented that the company’s modernisation programme was “painful” for staff, but “beginning to deliver results.
Deutsche Post to close budget business mail unit
Deutsche Post decided the painful court ruling last week, in which it was ordered to raise prices above cost at its regional business mail unit First Mail, was too much.
The German giant has decided to close the entire operation, transferring staff over to other areas of Deutsche Post, aiming to shutter its Dusseldorf-based subsidiary by the end of 2011.
Alexander Edenhofer, a spokesman for Deutsche Post’s Mail division, said he could not yet say what the impact of the closure would be on First Mail customers, although reports in the German media suggested the company’s largest client walked out after the court ruling.
Patrick Donahoe criticises postal reform proposals
Just a few days before America’s Thanksgiving holiday, Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe was offering little in the way of thanks to Congress, for taking its time in rescuing the Postal Service.
Speaking to assembled journalists at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, he said neither of the two bills currently on offer in the US Senate and US House of Representatives provided enough reform to save USPS.
He also said, after months of debate over the current Congressional proposals, that if a rescue plan is not agreed quickly, either the Postal Service will have to close its doors or the US taxpayer will receive a hefty bill. “Lack of speed will kill the Postal Service,” he warned.
Hermes UK sees the silver lining in a challenging economy
Home delivery specialist Hermes UK is investing in expanding its network and improving its services, despite an atrocious British economy.
After posting a 6% increase in sales in the last year, the Leeds-based company is predicting that its growth is now moving well into the double digits. Speaking to Post&Parcel, the company outlined its belief that improving delivery services on behalf of its retail clients could attract even more consumers to take up online shopping, inspiring even more growth.
Plans are to improve convenience for consumers receiving parcels with a trial of evening deliveries and deployment of parcel shops, while improving returns services.
And finally…
This week we reported on the rapid growth of the parcel pick-up network Kinek, and its belief that its business model, which seeks to “eliminate the last mile” of parcel delivery, could revolutionise retail development in developing countries and inspire significant growth in cross-border trade.
