Belgian postal service wants partner to modernise
Belgium’s struggling publicly-owned postal service De Post/La Poste needs a partner quickly to modernise its operations, its chief executive was quoted as saying on Friday.
“I’m not naming names but it is clear that De Post is years behind the postal companies in the Netherlands and Germany,” Johnny Thijs was quoted as telling the Belgian daily De Standaard in an interview.
“We are facing a very tough workload and the two companies you mentioned (Dutch TPG NV(TP)(TP) and Deutsche Post (DPWGn)) have already completed most of the processes of change,” he added.
“They already possess the knowledge and know-how which we can use. A good partner therefore has a lot of benefits for De Post,” Thijs said, adding that he will shortly talk through his plans with the government.
“In any case, it has to be a strong operational, strategic and financial partner,” he added.
But Dutch mail, express and logistics company TPG said it was currently not in talks with its Belgian peer.
“Of course we meet De Post regularly and we talk with them just as we are talking with just about every other European postal company. But at the moment there is nothing concrete to report (about partnership discussions),” TPG spokeswoman Hanne Kluck said.
A spokesman for Germany’s Deutsche Post said it was only interested in stakes in companies with healthy financial figures.
Deutsche Post’s Chief Executive Klaus Zumwinkel reiterated on Wednesday would look at taking part in the privatisation of post offices in Austria and Denmark, while investing more in Asia.
The Belgian postal service made a 47 million euros net loss in 2002, down from a 39 million euro profit in 2001, on slowing sales growth while costs continue to rise.
The European Commission last month cleared a 297.5 million euros capital injection by the Belgian state into the postal service.
(with additional reporting by Theo Kolker in Amsterdam and Matthias Inverardi in Duesseldorf.
©2003 Reuters Limited.
