UK Royal Mail are set to unveil operating profits of well over GBP200m, the first time the state-owned company has been in the black for four years.
Its chairman, Allan Leighton, and chief executive, Adam Crozier, will also reveal that the company made a modest pre-tax profit in the year to the end of March. The pair will use the announcement to claim that their turnaround plan for the troubled group is starting to deliver results.
Read MoreUnited Parcel Service Inc. plans to expand its business in Japan by creating an extensive distribution network, UPS Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Mike Eskew said.
In an interview with media organisations, Eskew said that the company will boost its number of distribution centers in Japan to several thousand in five years from the current 72.
Read MorePublic dissatisfaction with the nation’s postal service is running at an all-time high – with a hotline set up to take complaints about wrongly delivered mail receiving more than 6,000 calls in four days, The Scotsman has learned.
Postwatch, the consumer watchdog that represents the interests of Royal Mail customers, was overwhelmed with calls after the launch of its “Stamp Out Misdelivered Mail” campaign. Angry customers complained about receiving letters addressed to strangers, having their post go missing and only receiving important items, such as bank statements and credit cards, because strangers forwarded them on. Postwatch had been expecting about 1,000 calls in the first week and was shocked by the scale of public response.
Qatar’s General Postal Corporation (Q-Post) needs to upgrade some of its mail handling operations to make the service more profitable and attractive, a visiting German postal expert said. Q-Post’s existing services, however, are among the most efficient in the world, he added.
Speaking to the media, Wolfram Strohmaier, consultant for quality at the Universal Postal Union and a senior expert at the Deutsche Post, said some of the areas in which Q-Post could do better were in its sorting schedules and the delivery of mailbags to airlines.
Wolfram had been sent to Doha for a week by the UPU to study the areas in which Q-Post can further upgrade its services.
Read MoreThe Nationalist party’s allies, the European People’s Party (EPP), have voted to introduce VAT on postal services in the 25 EU member states.
Up to now the 6th VAT Directive, dating back to the 1970s, has so far exempted postal services from VAT. However, in their proposal to Parliament, the Commission proposed to include postal services under the scope of the VAT regime.
Read MoreFederal Express Corp (FedEx) has announced its technology strategy for India. This includes introduction of technology solutions like the FedEx InSight and FedEx Global Trade Manager in the country. It has also deployed hundreds of handheld pocket computers with the FedEx couriers. Addressing the media FedEx India managing director Jacques Creeten said, “We have introduced a couple of hundred of handhelds in India. There are similar experiments in West Asia and Europe, but on a smaller scale.”
Read MoreUpon introduction of a comprehensive postal reform bill in the Senate, UPS has pledged its support for the measure and expressed optimism that Congress could complete work on the issue this year. “The Collins-Carper bill marks a strong step toward long-term, comprehensive postal reform,” said UPS Chairman and CEO Mike Eskew. “We are optimistic that Congress can modernize the law governing postal operations for the 21st century.
“We commend Chairman Collins for her leadership on this important and critical issue to our nation’s economy and Sen. Carper for his commitment to an efficient U.S. Postal Service,” Eskew added.
Read MoreThe retail sales turnover of Russia’s Federal Postal Service amounted to USD215 million in 2003, the press service of the Russian Post state company reported. Russian Post expects a breakthrough in retail sales in 2006-2007, when the range of products for sale at post offices will be standardized and customers will get used to the idea that besides postal services, you can purchase certain consumer goods at a post office.
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