Author: Archive

Deutsche Post sale starts unwinding of Germany Inc

Posted by | Jul 24, 2005 | |

The German government’s decision to offload its remaining 7.3% holding in Deutsche Post sparked headlines that Germany had finally washed its hands of the former state monopoly, but such stories are premature. In fact, nearly 45% of the company is still held by the government, and politicians remain in charge of a major portion of German telephony giant Deutsche Telekom, too. The sale of the Post stake and a like-sized holding in Telekom was made to the Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau, (KfW), a government-controlled reconstruction bank. Berlin earned some E5bn(USD6, GBP3.5bn) from the in-house transfer of shares without losing a jot of control over the two companies. Part of the deal entitles the German government to any additional profit from a sale on the open market over the price it charged the KfW. In fact, the KfW – whose director is on the Post supervisory board – will retain its Post stake until mid May 2006.

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A good idea to sell Royal Mail to its staff? Answers on a postcard to Sir George Bain

Posted by | Jul 23, 2005 | |

Amid the melee of Thursday’s attempted bomb attack on London, an announcement slipped out almost unnoticed from Alan Johnson, the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, concerning Royal Mail. Mr Johnson, himself a former postie, told the Commons that he had appointed Professor Sir George Bain ‘to support me in working on Royal Mail issues’. This is a long way short of the full-blown inquiry into the future of Royal Mail, chaired by an independent business figure, that we had been led to expect. There was no formal statement from the department about Sir George’s appointment and no information about how precisely he would support Mr Johnson, much less anything resembling his terms of reference.

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FedEx Ground faces labor challenge from US contract drivers

Posted by | Jul 23, 2005 | |

Though FedEx was built on a cargo airline, its trucking business is now a big-time moneymaker and a tough competitor for its chief rival, UPS. The argument centers on the more than 14,000 drivers of those trucks with the purple and green “FedEx” on the side that make thousands of stops each day at homes and businesses across America. The drivers are independent contractors who own the trucks, pay all operating costs and get no company benefits. But drivers in Tennessee, California, Massachusetts, Minnesota, South Dakota and elsewhere are suing FedEx, arguing that the company skirts worker protection laws by refusing to hire them as employees eligible for overtime pay, health insurance, workers’ compensation and other benefits. They also want to be reimbursed for back operating expenses and lost benefits.

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DHL continues UK Superbrand supremacy

Posted by | Jul 22, 2005 | |

DHL has retained its status as one of the UK’s leading brands by being named a Business Superbrand for 2005. The Business Superbands programme is run by Superbrands Ltd, the independent arbiter on branding. Thousands of business brands were judged by a panel of 13 independent business leaders who selected a final list of 83 winners. “This award is testament to the successful integration of DHL, Securicor Distribution and Danzas under the DHL brand,” said Suzy Elliott, Marketing Director at DHL. “Our customers have responded well to this and we continue to focus on delivering a seamless service in order to retain the finest reputation in our field.” This is the second year in a row that DHL has won superbrand status.

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China volumes aid UPS results

Posted by | Jul 22, 2005 | |

A doubling in shipments out of China helped UPS increase earnings by a better than expected 22 per cent in the second quarter. Rapid international expansion, especially in Asia, has helped the package delivery and logistics group offset slower growth in the US over recent months. But there were signs in the second quarter that the domestic business was recovering strength, following management restructuring and an increased focus on medium-sized business customers. International export volume rose 18 per cent, helped by “steady” growth in the world economy. Asian exports were up nearly 40 per cent. This month the group announced plans to launch a domestic express delivery service in China and build a new hub for Asian operations in Shangahi.

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Reform on China postal system to start in H2 2005

Posted by | Jul 22, 2005 | |

A reform on the Chinese postal system, worked out by the State Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Information Industry, and the State Postal Bureau, is set to start in the second half of 2005 after being prepared for seven years. The reform will focus on separating the administrative functions from enterprise, strengthening governmental supervision, guaranteeing general services and special services and ensuring postal security. To the end China will establish the State Post Administration as the supervision organ and the China Postal Group Corp. to run all kinds of postal services including some core businesses such as mails, EMS, and logistics. A postal depository bank will be set up to regulate financial services in the postal area. China Postal Group Corp. will set up a series of subsidiaries in logistics, saving deposit, EMS, stamps collection, aviation and other industries. The reform plan has been filed to the State Council, the country’s cabinet for an approval.

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UK Royal Mail staff share transfer still on the cards

Posted by | Jul 22, 2005 | |

Ministers have signalled they could allow Royal Mail to transfer shares to its employees, following a government review into the future of the state-owned postal services operator announced yesterday. The government has decided against setting up the widely expected independent review of Royal Mail’s future once the postal services market is opened up to full competition on January 1. Alan Johnson, the trade and industry secretary, told MPs yesterday he had decided instead to appoint Sir George Bain, the former head of the London Business School, to work with him in examining these issues. This internal review could give the green light to Royal Mail’s proposal to transfer a significant ownership stake to its staff, Mr Johnson suggested. He told MPs he was “not ruling out” an employee share trust.

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