France’s La Poste is to cut into the Chinese market by forming a partnership with China’s logistics company Kerry EAS. The two parties has clinched an initial agreement, and they will respectively make CNY 100 million investment in creating a joint venture. Besides, they have been in touch since the beginning of the year, and their new company is expected to be launch into operation in 2006.
Read MoreThe GCC’s express market is set to grow by around 15% in 2006, according to the Managing Director of TNT Gulf. According to Mark Pell, Saudi Arabia’s imminent entry into the WTO and the progressive unification of the GCC, will contribute to growth. However, he warns that initiatives will only pay real dividends if commitment is at all levels of government, especially customs. ‘The ambiguity, understanding and application of customs legislation varies from country to country and officials around the region need to consult the industry more regularly to ensure any new implementations can be practically achieved by us and ultimately encourage legitimate trade growth,’ he said. ‘Failure to recognise and deal with these issues in a coherent and timely way will result in businesses creating alternatives and circumventing the system. When this happens, it’s generally the freight industry that has to pick up the pieces.’ Nevertheless Pell says there is reason for optimism.
Read MoreThe postal regulator Postcomm’s decision to open the postal market to full competition from the beginning of next month is today criticised as “untimely” by a committee of MPs. In a report published today on Royal Mail after liberalisation of the market, the trade and industry committee warns that Royal Mail “has been asked to prepare for competition at a time of great commercial uncertainty”. MPs say that at a time when Postcomm is reviewing the price that Royal Mail can charge for its regulated services, the company is facing “huge challenges in addressing its pensions deficit and investment needs”. The committee says opening the market to competition did not pose a threat to Royal Mail’s obligation to deliver across the UK for the same price. But it warns that “the regulator must remain vigilant to ensure that competition in postal services does not come at the cost of universal service”. Any universal service which allowed exemptions such as rural areas was “not worthy of the name”.
Read MoreThe government should extend Royal Mail’s exemption from dividend payments to help ease its pension deficit and allow it to invest in its network, a committee of MPs said. In a report, the all-party Trade and Industry committee accepted that postage prices would have to rise to help bridge the 4 bln stg deficit in the fund. Earlier this month Royal Mail was given the go-ahead by industry regulator Postcomm to raise the price of a first-class stamp to 36p to help fund the shortfall. This will provide an extra 320 mln stg a year and help to pay off the difference over anything from eight to 17 years, depending on equity market performance. However, the committee warned that the government should take its share of the blame for taking 2.3 bln stg in dividends from the business between 1984 and 1999, depriving it of investment capital.
Read MoreIn a landmark Judgment the High Court has found in favour of the postal watchdog, Postwatch, against the economic regulator, Postcomm. This is the first time a Consumer Council has successfully Judicially Reviewed an industry regulator. Millie Banerjee, Chair of Postwatch, commenting on the High Court’s decision said: “We are, of course, delighted the Judgment is in our favour. This is an important outcome ensuring Royal Mail’s customers receive the GBP40 million of withheld compensation they were due for service failures in 2003/04. Customers have been patient but hopefully can now see light at the end of what has been a long legal tunnel. One of our first challenges is to put in place the processes that will ensure Postwatch and Postcomm work jointly to achieve the right outcomes for customers. Royal Mail now needs to deliver what the Court has decided and pay in full the compensation due to customers.”
Read MorePostbank, the banking arm of Deutsche Post, said Tuesday it had agreed to take over 850 branches belonging to its parent company for 986 million euros (1.2 billion dollars). “We will take over the 850 most lucrative branches of Deutsche Post from January 1,” Postbank said in a statement.
Read MoreThe European Commission will approve on Wednesday the creation of a new entity which will regroup the banking activities of France’s La Poste, said a source close to the case.
The commission, which has been examining the case for several months, will only give its ‘partial’ approval, the source said, as Brussels can only give a general green light, but leave other issues untouched, such as the ‘Livret A’ savings account distribution monopoly which La Poste has with the Caisses d’Epargne.
Read MoreConsidering economies of scale, Austrian Post has decided to change its strategy in the Slovenian parcel market towards a partnership model. Austrian Post and TNT are currently engaged in negotiating a respective agreement. This agreement is expected to be signed by year end.
Anton Wais, CEO of Austrian Post: „Our current business strategy for parcel logistics in South Eastern Europe requires a flexible approach that can be tailored individually to local market environments. In a small market like Slovenia bundling of resources is crucial and therefore we give preference to a co-operation model.“
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