NZ Post Buys Stake in Maltapost

NZ Post Buys Stake in Maltapost
February 5, 2002 — Reuters: New Zealand government-owned postal services firm NZ Post has bought a 35 percent stake in Maltapost plc and will manage the Mediterranean island postal company for two years, the companies said on Tuesday. ‘The purchase of shares is believed to be the first time a state-owned postal business has directly invested in another,’ the companies said in a statement. The price of the stake bought by NZ Post subsidiary Transend Worldwide Ltd was not revealed and spokespeople for the companies were not immediately available for comment. Malta has approximately 400,000 people while New Zealand in the South Pacific has a population of about 3.9 million. Transend managing director Drew Stein said that work would begin immediately on a three-year business plan for Maltapost, which reported a profit before extraordinary items of 200,000 Maltese lira ($434,000) on turnover of Lm 6.8 million in the year to September 2001. ‘Key elements will include the improvement of mail processing, developing retail and point-of-sale systems and establishing commercial arrangements in North Africa and the Middle East,’ Stein said. Transend has projects in about 20 countries and reported a net profit of NZ$14.1 million ($5.98 million) on revenues of NZ$180 million in the year to June 30, 2001.” (Source: Reuters