Postcomm – COMMentary – Spring 2008
Postcomm – COMMentary – Spring 2008
Read MoreAuthor: Archive
2008 UK Market Analysis Transport, Distribution & Logistics
2008 UK Market Analysis Transport, Distribution & Logistics
This report goes way beyond simple commentary and first level analysis, listing leading organisations in the sector covered and spotlighting those in defined phases of change. The Transport, Distribution and Logistics sector could more correctly be described as the Transport and Logistics sector Transport relates to the movement of people or freight, whilst Logistics relates to the theory and science behind the planning, implementation and management of the efficient movement of goods and people, as well as their temporary storage as part of the transportation process. Transport and Logistics is an area of the UK economy showing particularly strong signs of growth.
This report deals with the UK market for the physical distribution of goods and people. The freight elements include all modes of freight transport (air, sea, road, rail and pipeline), as well as other activities that form part of the supply chain, such as the national post and courier companies, cargo handling, storage and forwarding, as well as sea and airport activities. We estimate that the total value of the UK Transport, Distribution and Logistics sector will be GBP 80 billion in 2008, provided the global economies do not undergo a full blown recession, this would be up by 4% from an estimated GBP 77 billion 2007. GBP 80 billion is the total of the UK turnover for all companies operating in this market.
http://www.researchandmarkets.com/product/bf562b/2008_uk_market_analysis_transport_distributi
Read MorePreliminary results announcement for the year
Financial Highlights
– Revenue up 10% to £899m (2006: £819m)
– Underlying operating profit before exceptionals decreased to £18.1m (2006: £20.7m)
– Underlying profit before tax and exceptionals down to £12.5m (2006: £15.4m)
– Earnings per share of 17.90p (2006: 4.46p)
– Strong free cash flow of £61m, reflecting the £46m from the property sale & leaseback
– Significant reduction in net debt to £39m (2006: £94m)
– Final dividend unchanged at 2.45p
Operational Highlights
– Sales growth momentum continues
– New business wins ahead of last year at £130m
– Food and Consumer sector performed strongly
– UK businesses had an excellent year
– Transport sector had a difficult year
– Review of UK Transport complete and turnaround actions underway
– France continued strong revenue growth with new wins
– Strengthened management team
Stewart Oades, Chief Executive, said:
“Whilst the continued improvement in growing the business through new wins and increased retention rates is pleasing, there remains much to be done. The markets we operate in are still highly competitive and the performance of UK Transport is not acceptable. We have completed a thorough review of this business unit and have put in place a plan to move this business back into profit. Although this will take time, UK Transport is an essential part of our strategy to create a pan-European shared-user business.
“In the current year we expect revenue growth to continue and anticipate some benefit from the restructuring, although it will take longer before we see the full impact.”
Greece to start Hellenic Post sale this year
Greece plans to begin the sale of its state-run postal company Hellenic Post (ELTA) this year, ahead of a deregulation of its postal services market, a government official said on Thursday.
Greece has been selling down stakes in state-controlled companies to strengthen the economy’s competitiveness and to help pay down public debt, which at about 95 percent of GDP, is one of the highest in the euro zone. The conservative government was examining two different ways of privatising ELTA but no decision had been made yet, Communications Ministry general secretary George Anastasopoulos told Reuters in an interview.
“Our aim is to begin procedures to find a partner for ELTA in 2008, or list company shares on the Athens bourse and then find a strategic investor,” he said.
Greece is targeting 1.6 billion euros in revenues from the sale of ports, airports and public companies this year, but has only raised about 450 million euros so far.
Analysts estimate that the government could garner a further 150 million euros if it sells up to 20 percent of ELTA.
“All over Europe we are seeing moves to attract investors and strategic partners in the (postal) sector, and we want to see what interest exists in ELTA. It’s our final chance to get ready before the market frees up,” said Anastasopoulos.
A strategic partner for ELTA’s courier subsidiary should be announced early next year, he added. Two companies out of an initial dozen that expressed interest will be asked to present binding bids.
He did not name the suitors but Greek media reported DHL, UPS, Speedex, TNT and Imperio-Star were in the race.
Read MoreThe 3rd Postal Directive – establishment of an internal postal market
The 3rd Postal Directive – establishment of an internal postal market
Read MoreChanges to the fuel surcharge of Express, Parcel and Unitised Transport services
Itella Logistics will revise the basis and rates of fuel surcharges applicable to its services: for parcels, the new fuel surcharge is 7.15 pct and for unitised transport services, 8.2 pct. The new rates will take effect on 7 July 2008.
From that day on, the fuel surcharge will be tied to the fuel factor of Statistics Finland’s cost index on the road transport of goods. The change will not influence agreements in any way, and the usage of services will continue unchanged in other respects.
– The current price trends have forced us to revise the basis and rates of the fuel surcharges applicable to domestic and international Express, parcel and unitised transport services, says Pekka Stenqvist, director in charge of Express and domestic freight services at Itella Logistics.
In recent months, fuel prices have increased drastically: the price per litre has gone up by approximately 25 pct this year.
Read MoreDHL turns off the lights for World Environment Day
DHL has launched the DHL “Lights Off” initiative on World Environmental Day, designed to drive environmental consciousness among employees by turning off their lights in DHL offices across the world for one hour.
Emblematic of DHL’s commitment to reducing its environmental impact, the initiative is part of the company’s GoGreen Program that was launched in April this year. The program brings together all elements of its climate change initiatives and will work to improve DHL’s carbon efficiency by 30 percent by 2020 when compared to 2007 levels.
“Lights Off” aims to increase the environmental awareness of DHL employees and promotes the responsible use of energy. DHL encourages staff to adjust their daily habits in terms of paper, water and resource usage thereby contributing to making it a more environmentally-friendly company.
“Lights Off” is one of many projects within the GoGreen offering that works to facilitate a long-term cultural change toward being more environmentally responsible. For example, DHL has been engaging employees to reduce their environmental impact through a driver awareness program – helping drivers to understand the significant impact their driving behavior can have on DHL’s fuel efficiency. Further DHL offices worldwide organized various awareness campaigns to provide employees with the opportunity to adapt and demonstrate more sustainable practices in their daily lives.
The World Environment Day, held each year on June 5, is one of the principal events through which the United Nations stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and action
Read MoreNew corporate IT model at Correos
Correos contracted a service package aimed at building, implementing and maintaining its corporate IT architecture and the application integration standards to guarantee the efficiency and quality of its IT system.
With the development of this new corporate architecture, Correos aims to reduce IT system development and maintenance complexity, time and costs. At the same time, as associated advantages, it will attempt to optimise overall application performance, favouring modularity and scalability. Another advantage will be to maximise service standards and quality whilst minimising the human resources necessary to manage the different processes.
The investment allocated for this project is EUR 1.8 million. CORREOS has chosen IBM, the tender awardee, to carry out the necessary actions to improve its IT system user service standards, as well as to start up the construction of the different J2EE, ORACLE and SAP system architecture-based IT applications.
The introduction of this new corporate IT model is part of the “Integra” Plan, CORREOS’ strategic project aimed at improving and guaranteeing its IT system quality. This Plan includes a group of actions designed to promote the availability and use of IT tools and systems, both in postal operations, and in monitoring and control. The end objective is to have a technological platform with sufficient capacity to face the new requirements of an increasingly competitive postal sector.
Post & Parcel Magazine
Post & Parcel Magazine is our print publication, released 3 times a year. Packed with original content and thought-provoking features, Post & Parcel Magazine is a must-read for those who want the inside track on the industry.