For a plain post office bank, Germany’s Postbank carries a great weight of expectation. Markets are looking to June’s planned {XEU}3bn flotation of up to 49 per cent of the bank by Deutsche Post, its parent, to end a near two-year drought of German initial public offerings. Others see it, more ambitiously, as the key to reviving Germany’s stalled equity culture and unlocking its long-desired banking consolidation.
Read MoreDHL Express has opened a dedicated Sameday facility at its Fore Street branch in central London to provide time-sensitive deliveries locally and across the UK. Alongside City financial institutions, the National Blood Service is a regular Sameday customer
Read MorePalletways has moved the central hub of its Italian operation from Verona to Bologna to extend the reach of its overnight services and provide room for growth.
The Lichfield-based company, which pioneered pallet networks in Italy in 2001, said it needed to accomodate “phenomenal” levels of growth that saw volumes in Italy doubling over the past year.
The move to Bologna – the logistics centre of Italy – would enable Palletways Italia to extend its premium next-day services further south.
Read MoreAmtrak has launched an extended evening delivery service in response to the increasing demand for home deliveries.
The company trialled deliveries in specific time windows between 5.30pm and 8.30pm in London, and is now offering the service as standard in other cities including Leeds, Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield and Glasgow.
Read MoreThe world’s largest air-express shipper revealed further details on how it plans to integrate Kinko’s, which it acquired in January for USD2.4bn, into the FedEx system. Kinko’s stores primarily offer print copy services to walk-in customers and small- and medium-sized businesses. FedEx expects to transform the Kinko’s stores, which number over 1,000 in the US, into full-service shipping centers where customers can handle all their document needs – from printing to packing to shipping. In the next few months, the company expects to implement its full line of shipping services in stores, including packaging. FedEx will also use its international network to expand Kinko’s outlets overseas.
Read MoreSouth Korea’s state postal agency, Korea Post, has said it will begin operation of Internet-based savings from July as part of efforts to strengthen its financial services. To expand its Internet banking services including ordinary deposits, the state mail service monopoly plans to offer higher interest rates than the market rates, said Koo Yung-bo, president of Korea Post, in a press conference.
Read MoreMore than 1,600 rural post offices could face closure under recommendations from the Post Office regulator. They are set out in a review by the Postal Services Commission, Postcomm, of the GBP150 million-a-year subsidy that sustains the rural network of post offices. The review is now being considered by the Government.
Read MoreDeutsche Post Global Mail has set itself to become number two in the UK postal market. “We want to be the alternative to Royal Mail,” said Michael Proffitt, MD of Europe and the UK for DPGM’s Mail International division. Building on its takeover of Speedmail this year and the award of a long-term license, DPGM has opened a purposebuilt 7,500sq meter mail centre in Croydon, with a capacity of 90m items a year, and has negotiated a downstream access agreement for Royal Mail to handle final delivery. Under the terms of its license from regulator Postcomm, DPGM (UK) will offer businesses mailing more than 4,000 pre-sorted letters a day a two-day delivery service from this August.
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