Deutsche Post World Net’s profits leap 45percent
Deutsche Post World Net’s profits leap 45percent
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USPS to Install Wincor Nixdorf Self-Service Units at Over 2,500 Postal Locations
Wincor Nixdorf today announced that the United States Postal Service has selected self-service devices from Wincor Nixdorf and its U.S. alliance partner, IBM, for installation at 2,506 postal branches throughout the United States. The initial installations of the Automated Postal Center (APC) units occurred in May 2004 and will continue through November 2004. Postal customers can use the APC to weigh packages and print bar-coded postage; weigh and rate envelopes, flaps, and packages up to 70 pounds; prepare, prep and deliver postage; and dispense stamp sheets.
Read MoreDeutsche Post could register higher loss than expected in US
Analysts are beginning to doubt that Deutsche Post, the German postal service operator, will be able to limit its losses in the US this year as planned. The company had said in the spring that it intended to maintain its losses in the US at around the same level as for last year, when they totalled 284m euros. However, the loss sustained by the company’s US activities in the first half of 2004 amounted to 229m euros. The loss in the US has been attributed to the cost of integrating US company Airborne, which Deutsche Post acquired last year, and to the fact that the company’s market share is still low at 9 per cent.
Read MoreDHL sees rise in Asia-Pacific market share
DHL has said it expected its expand its 40 percent share of the Asia-Pacific express courier market by one-to-two percentage points in the next few years, fuelled by growth in China. DHL, a unit of Deutsche Post AG, earned about 2.5 billion euros in revenue from its express and logistics businesses in Asia last year, about 11 percent of DHL’s total global turnover.
“We are getting 20 to 25 percent growth in Japan. But China is twice as fast as that,” DHL Express chief executive John Mullen told a news conference.
Mullen said revenue at DHL’s China express have grown 35 to 45 percent annually over the last five years.
DHL eyeing Manila airport ecozone
DHL wants the Philippines government to declare part of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) as a special economic zone where businesses will be entitled to various incentives. DHL Worldwide Express (Philippines), Inc. aims to convert a property close to the airport into an economic zone, but “it is not big enough to qualify” under Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) rules.
Read MoreEU OKs TPG Buyout of Wilson Logistics
The European Union Commission Tuesday approved the acquisition by Dutch postal and logistics firm TPG NV (TP) of Swedish freight services company Wilson Logistics Holding AB. The price of the buyout is EUR257 million. “As both companies are complementary and do not overlap, the proposed transaction does not raise any competition concerns,” the E.U. Commission said in a statement. The purchase is part of TPG’s goal to increase its global presence and the range of services it offers. It had been looking to acquire a firm that would allow it to enter the global freight forwarding business. Wilson Logistic’s freight forwarding business will complement TPG’s express mail and logistics divisions and will contribute to an increased presence in China, where TPG is investing EUR200 million over the next two years.
Read MoreUPS settles Overseas Partners class action
United Parcel Service Inc. has agreed to provide vouchers to its customers to settle a consolidated class action lawsuit that alleged UPS overcharged shippers for excess-value package insurance written by a Bermuda-based company owned by UPS employee-shareholders.
Atlanta-based UPS was hit with 27 such lawsuits across the country after a U.S. Tax Court judge ruled in 1999 that Bermuda-based Overseas Partners Ltd. was a “sham” intended to divert taxable UPS income from the excess-value program. A panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals later overturned the ruling, finding that OPL served a legitimate business purpose.
The class actions continued, though, after being consolidated before U.S. District Judge Richard Berman in New York. Judge Berman on Friday approved the terms of a settlement, under which UPS would pay no cash but would grant customers covered by the deal vouchers good for future UPS shipments.
Read MoreUS RR Donnelley Agrees to Sell Package Logistics Business
R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company announced today that it has reached an agreement to sell its package logistics business to Heritage Partners, Inc., a Boston-based private equity firm that is the principal owner of American Package Express (APX). The agreement is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close by the end of the third quarter, 2004.
Under terms of the agreement, RR Donnelley will receive cash in exchange for the assets and liabilities of its package logistics business, which includes CTC Direct, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of RR Donnelley. RR Donnelley’s package logistics business consolidates and mails small parcels to homes in the United States. RR Donnelley will retain its print logistics, fulfillment and distribution businesses and will continue to provide third-party logistics management services.
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