Italian state-owned postal services company Poste Italiane has decided to distribute a 117.87 mln euro (USD152.6 mln) dividend for 2005, it was reported today after a meeting on the approval of the 2005 figures. Italy’s Treasury and local state financing agency Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) are shareholders in the company. Poste Italiane closed 2005 with a 349 mln euro (USD451.9 mln) net profit, up 19.4 pct year-on-year.
Read MoreComment by Managing director, DHL Global Mail John Ivers from Postal Services Special Report
Read MorePosta Slovenija, the Slovenian postal company, made a net profit of SIT 3.6bn (EUR 15m) in 2005, which is its best result ever, the general manager of the company said at Thursday’s press conference. According to Ales Hauc, the company saw its sales revenues rise 10% to SIT 49.9bn (EUR 208m) in 2005, beating forecasts by 5%. Meanwhile, operating costs rose less than 1% to SIT 45.1bn (EUR 188.2m) in the year, allowing the company to report a record-breaking profit, Hauc said. He added that the strong performance is a result of an increase in the volume of mail carried and improved productivity, as well as higher prices.
Read MoreAmerican Financial Realty Trust, a real estate investment trust focused on acquiring and leasing properties occupied by financial institutions, today announced that it has entered into an agreement with DHL Express to provide tenants throughout its national asset network with on-premises drop boxes for express delivery service. According to the terms of the agreement DHL will place drop boxes at up to 500 American Financial Realty offices and retail locations across the United States. The arrangement provides DHL with another avenue to expand its U.S. footprint by tapping into American Financial Realty’s geographically diverse portfolio of properties. At the same time, AFR is able to provide its tenants with DHL’s premier express delivery services, while capitalizing on a new revenue opportunity that unlocks additional value from AFR’s real estate portfolio.
Read MoreThe industry has yet to feel the full force of postal deregulation. But there is no doubt that a liberalised market is good news for direct marketers as the main players compete to offer cost savings, quality and flexible services.
Read MoreLA POSTE FRANCE, the French post office, is investing E18m to build a distribution hub for Interlink, an Irish company that is owned by the French operator. The firm aims to fill the void created by the closure last year of An Post’s loss-making SDS parcel-delivery service.
Read MoreA Superior Court jury awarded USD61 million to two FedEx drivers of Lebanese descent who said a manager had harassed them with racial slurs for two years.
Edgar Rizkallah, 43, and Kamil Issa, 36, both of Pleasanton, said in the discrimination lawsuit that they were called “terrorists,” “camel jockeys” and other epithets in 1999 and 2000 by Stacy Shoun, terminal manager for the Oakland FedEx Ground facility where the two men were contract drivers. An Alameda County jury on Friday awarded the men $50 million in punitive damages, on top of USD11 million in compensatory damages awarded May 24, a lawyer for the plaintiffs and a FedEx spokesman said Saturday. The company plans to appeal. A FedEx spokesman called the verdict “excessive.”
Postwatch is gearing up for another legal battle against Royal Mail, after vowing to fight the operator’s appeal against the High Court judgment which last year found it guilty of breaching its own compensation scheme. The watchdog claims Royal Mail knows it is set to lose again, but wants to keep the GBP40m it owes disgruntled bulk mailers in the bank in order for it to gain interest. The appeal process will not reach court for several months. Postwatch brought the original judicial review against industry regulator Postcomm when Royal Mail withheld around GBP40m-worth of compensation from companies, after failing all 15 of its minimum service targets in 2003 and 2004. Bulk mail customers should have received compensation totalling GBP80m automatically, but Royal Mail used late invoice payments as a reason to withhold 50 per cent. Judge Justice Sullivan ruled that Royal Mail should pay its customers the GBP40m owed. A Postwatch spokesman explains: “As far as we’re concerned, this appeal is a delaying tactic. We’ve already won this case once, and we’re very confident we will win it again.”
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