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Chronopost unveils new three-year plan and opens EUR 53m hub

Posted by | Apr 9, 2008 | |

Chronopost has announced a three-year plan named “Essentiel 2010” at the occasion of the opening of its new EUR 53 million, 13,000 sqm national hub at Chilly-Mazarin, south of Paris.

The new 2008-2010 plan, presented by Christian Emery, president of Chronopost, is designed to give the company a new strategic orientation while reinforcing its position within the industry as well as internationally. As part of the plan the company is aiming for annual growth of at least 6pct, while the market is expected to grow at a lower rate. The company’s profitability is expected to be in line with the market.

Chronopost aims to become France’s leading provider of morning express delivery services. The company is planning to refocus its activities on the domestic market, concentrating on morning deliveries and its online service. Since February 2008 the company has provided next-day delivery before 13:00 within France, including packaging and transportation. This product will be extended to international destinations by end 2008.

In order to expand its market share, Chronopost will strengthen its activities in certain industrial sectors, such as new technology and health, while it also intends to expand abroad, where it already achieves 25pct of its turnover. The company is going to sign the ADEME charter for CO2 emissions and continue the environmental ISO 14001 certification program. All Chronopost drivers will be trained for eco-friendly driving by 2009. The company also said it will focus on staff training and take on 500 additional workers by 2010.

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Top job changes at DHL UK and France

Posted by | Apr 9, 2008 | |

DHL Express has announced important job changes in two of its key European markets, UK and France, after the finalisation of recent restructuring measures.

Chris Muntwyler (55) has left his position as managing director of DHL Express UK and Ireland, the German transport newspaper DVZ reported. Muntwyler took over the post in 2005 with the job of restructuring the company. This restructuring had been completed and the new growth period would be led by a new chief, Deutsche Post confirmed. Muntwyler, who has been with DHL Express since 1999, will take on new responsibilities.

Meanwhile, in France, DHL has appointed Florence Noblot as the new head of DHL International Express, one of the three new operating companies of DHL Express in the country. Noblot, who has been with DHL since 1993, is now heading the air express business unit with a workforce of 1,500 employees located at 35 sites. Her primary responsibility will be setting up DHL’s new air network in France that is linked to the opening of the new European hub at Leipzig. She was previously Vice President of DHL Global Customer Solutions for the Asia-Pacific region since May 2006, managing DHL’s 100 major international customers.

The operator has reorganised French operations into three operating companies, DHL Express Services, DHL International Express and DHL Freight, DHL Express Europe CEO Scott Price told CEP-Research in an interview in February.

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Business Post Group: Pre-close period trading update

Posted by | Apr 9, 2008 | |

Business Post Group plc issued the following pre-close period trading update for the year ended 31 March 2008.

Group revenues for the financial year increased by 10.1pct on the previous year. Excluding the revenues from the FedEx contract, which terminated on 30 April 2007, underlying Group revenue increased by 16.5pct.

The company continues to see good growth in the B2B parcels business which represents around 80pct of parcels revenues. In B2C, which represents 15pct of the parcels business, the company is seeing an improving trend of performance.

Revenues in our Mail business, UK Mail, increased by some 50pct on the previous year, derived from both new contract wins and substantial further business from existing customers. The company claims to handle some 10pct of all mail collected in the UK.

Revenues in Specialist Services are now recovering with the fourth quarter showing growth.

The courier business, now trading under the UK Mail brand, has recently won a number of new same-day contracts.

The Group has maintained strong revenue growth, both during the fourth quarter and for the year as a whole. The overall performance is in line with the Board’s expectations.
Business Post Group plc will report its preliminary results for the year ended 31 March 2008 on 21 May 2008.

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Post Office increases Instant Saver bonus rate

Posted by | Apr 8, 2008 | |

The Post Office today announces it is increasing the bonus rate on its Instant Saver account to 1.5 pct with immediate effect.

For a limited period, new customers applying for an Instant Saver account will receive 6 pct AER on balances of more than GBP 500. The introductory bonus is paid on deposits for 12 months from the date the account was opened, after which interest is earned at the standard rate – currently 4.5 pct.

Richard Norman, director of savings at the Post Office, said: “The savings market has changed dramatically in the last six months and in order for the Post Office to continue offering great value in an increasingly competitive market, we have decided to increase the bonus rate.

“This promotional offer will be reviewed on a monthly basis, to ensure that it continues to meet our customers’ expectations and keep us in line with the rest of the market.”

Post Office Instant Saver is available at all of the UK’s 14,000 Post Office branches, by telephone and online. Withdrawals can be made over the counter at branches and via 60,000 Link ATMs, offering unrivalled choice and convenience.

It also offer two unique guarantees – to pass on all base rate rises in full until January 2010 and to remain within 1.0 pct of the Bank of England base rate for the life of the account. Savers can make six free withdrawals a year with a flat fee of just GBP 1 for any future withdrawals.

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TNT Post to offer 3pct structural wage increase (UK)

Posted by | Apr 8, 2008 | |

During negotiations between the trade unions and TNT Post yesterday on a revised collective labour agreement as one of the means of bringing the employment package at the postal company in line with the market, TNT Post offered a structural wage increase of 3pct.

The offer comprises a 1.5pct salary rise with retroactive effect to 1 April 2008, and a further 1.5pct on 1 January 2009. The latter is conditional on the elaboration and implementation of a plan, put forward by a joint working group with representatives from the trade unions and TNT Post, to make fundamental changes to the conditions of employment.

TNT Post and the unions have now been in discussions for a year. In April 2007, TNT Post provided more details on the necessity of achieving an additional 300 million euros in cost savings above those already being generated by earlier plans. These cost savings cannot be achieved through operational efficiency measures alone; the conditions of employment also have to be brought more in line with the market, and additional assisted reemployment measures are required as well to limit job loss. Depending on the chosen solution, between 6,500 and 11,000 employees would be affected.

The trade unions have nonetheless rejected the offer made by TNT and have announced actions. TNT is considering the present situation, but remains firm on the necessity of implementing considerable further cost savings at TNT Post, in line with that which was previously announced. In the period 2007 to 2015, TNT Post wants to achieve a total of 395 million euros annually in cost savings. A considerable portion of this must be achieved through bringing the conditions of employment in line with the market.

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Pitney Bowes clients say Intelligent Mail Barcode gets top priority

Posted by | Apr 8, 2008 | |

By May 2009, the Intelligent Mail initiative is expected to become a critical element for USPS automation discounts. The Intelligent Mail Barcode will be required on all letters and flats in order to earn maximum postal discounts. As of May 2010, its predecessor, the POSTNET Barcode, is expected to no longer qualify for automation prices. Considerable discounts for the Intelligent Mail Barcode will likely encourage prompt migration to the new standard.

At a recent Pitney Bowes customer conference held in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, high volume mailers indicated that Intelligent Mail Barcode implementation is at the top of the list for 2008 strategic planning.

Today, commercial mail envelopes contain a number of sections from which automated mail machines electronically read information. The new Intelligent Mail Barcode will combine all these encryptions into one barcode representing 31 digits. Each barcode can uniquely identify each mail piece while it is traveling through the mailstream.

The simplified and unified barcode will help speed delivery, leverage customer intelligence, continue to help deliver lower postal rates and will create efficiencies in presorting mail.

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UPS Lowers 1Q 2008 Guidance

Posted by | Apr 8, 2008 | |

UPS today announced it had lowered its first quarter earnings expectations to USD 0.86 or USD 0.87 per diluted share from a previously anticipated range of USD 0.94-to-0.98.

At UPS’s investor conference on March 12, Chief Financial Officer Kurt Kuehn stated that UPS’s earnings guidance for the quarter would be difficult to achieve if lower volume trends experienced in February continued through March. The U.S. economy has continued to weaken, causing a reduction in domestic package volume and a shift away from premium products. Significantly increased fuel costs in the quarter also contributed to the lower-than-expected results.

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Successful start to DPD's Parcel-Shop offensive (GER)

Posted by | Apr 8, 2008 | |

DPD is continuing the successful Parcel-Shop offensive which it began last year. There are now no less than 3,000 Parcel-Shops in Germany, with a further 1,500 expected to follow by the end of the year. Small companies and private shippers, in particular, benefit from the products and service options available from the DPD Parcel-Shops.

“At the start of last year there were 472 DPD Parcel-Shops in Germany. By the end of the year this number had risen to almost 2,500,” states Arnold Schroven, Chief Executive Officer of DPD GmbH & Co. KG. The CEO is pleased because this represents a five-fold increase in shop numbers within a single year. “This success confirms our policy of continuing our offensive strategy on this segment of the market this year, too. We intend to provide our customers with a country-wide network of 4,500 Parcel-Shops by the end of 2008.”

DPD Parcel-Shops operate on the shop-in-shop principle and are located across various branches of the retail sector, including for example stationery shops, tanning studios and consumer electronics shops. The focus is always on the interests of the customer, which means the retail outlets are those frequented regularly by consumers and where handing in or collecting a parcel can be conveniently combined with other activities. Prestigious retailing multiples such as Metro and the Staples office-supply chain are partners to DPD Parcel-Shops.

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