Senator Joe Costello of the Labour Party has asked the High Court for an injunction restraining An Post from attaching any political slogan to postal packets sent by members of the public.
He is objecting to a contract between An Post and Fianna Fáil under which post is stamped with the words: “Fianna Fáil, the republican party – a lot done – more to do”, over the three-month period, March to May 2002.
The EU competition commission has reacted to a rumour that Deutsche Post AG, the German postal service operator, is likely to face a substantial fine in May, or in June at the latest, by stating that it has not yet decided upon the sum to be paid. The possible fine relates to allegations of subsidies detrimental to competition in the sector. Furthermore, the commission reports that it has not yet decided whether to demand repayment of the alleged state subsidies.
Read MorePostal service Deutsche Post said Tuesday that first-quarter profits fell 23 percent, partly because people used up old stamps denominated in marks rather than buying new euro versions.
Net profit fell to 417 million euros (dlrs 375 million) from 539 million euros in the same quarter the year before, the company said. Sales at its biggest division _ its legal monopoly on carrying the mail _ fell 2.1 percent in the period, to 2.63 billion euros (dlrs 2.36 billion) from 2.75 billion the year before.
“One reason behind this was the conversion to the euro, which led to the increased use of Deutsche-mark denominated stamps acquired in the past,” the company said in a statement.
State-owned postal operator Correos y Telegrafos is mulling the acquisition of a parcel service company to strengthen its position in the sector, Cinco Dias reported, citing unnamed sector sources.
According to the newspaper, Correos is currently in advanced talks to buy Banco Santander Central Hispano SA unit Servipack, in a deal worth some 48 mln eur.
International express delivery companies are close to resolving a festering dispute with China’s postal monopoly that is threatening their business in the country, an industry association said Tuesday. Both foreign and domestic express delivery companies have been negotiating with China Post over new regulations that require them to stop handling letters and packages weighing under 500 grams, and register with the government body to continue their other businesses. Those rules are widely seen as an attempt to shield China Post’s own express delivery business, EMS, from competition by the likes of FedEx Corp. (FDX), United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS), DHL Corp. (X.DHL) and TPG N.V. (TP), which now operate in China through local partners. ‘We will reach an agreement fairly shortly,’ said Li Limo, president of the China International Freight Forwarders Association, a local industry group that is representing the express delivery companies in the talks. ‘Both sides will make some compromises,’ Li said.
Read MoreDeutsche Post, the German postal and logistics group, reported a 22 per cent drop in net profit for the first quarter, but gathered global strength from last year’s acquisition of express postal group, DHL International.
The group, which earlier in the month announced that it planned to buy back shares in an attempt to boost its falling share price, said it had been unable to escape the grip of the ongoing economic downturn during the first quarter ended March 31.
Read MoreHays DX, the UK’s leading private sector mail company, has applied to the Postal Regulator, Postcomm, for an extension of its existing licence to expand its business mail delivery service in the event of an official Royal Mail strike. If Postcomm approves the application, Hays DX will be able to limit the damaging effects of such action on the business community by delivering business mail to all business addresses in 50 city centres throughout the UK.
Read MoreDeutsche Post World Net has kicked off 2002 with 13.1% growth in revenue to €9.7 billion in Q1/2002. The key reason for the rise in revenue as against the prior year period was the acquisition of a majority holding in DHL International, the global market leader for cross-border courier and express services.
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