Author: Archive

Israel Postal Company finally makes a profit

Posted by | Apr 2, 2008 | |

After years of losses when it was the Postal Authority, the Israel Postal Company reported net profits for 2007 of NIS 40 million on Tuesday.

Avi Hochman, the director-general of the for-profit government company, praised management and staffers for their achievements.

In 2007, the company had gross income of NIS 1.8 billion. In the past, as a state authority, it lost hundreds of millions of shekels annually, forcing the government to make up the difference. In 2006, the then-authority lost NIS 19m.

The business orientation of the new company, which was launched last year out of the authority, was responsible for the profits, Hochman said. It now offers many new services and provides existing services on a higher level, he said.

As postal rates were last raised in November 1, the next annual report should show even higher profits, Hochman said. This was the case, he said, even though the company is bound to provide universal mailing services, including delivery to peripheral areas where there is little or no profit.

The company’s Postal Bank – with its 700 offices in postal branches around the country – would become a “growth engine” in the future, Hochman said. It brought in NIS 307m., or 18 percent, of company income last year, he said, adding that it must receive a commercial license soon to compete with the commercial banks.

Last year, the Israel Postal Company invested large amounts of money in computerization and advanced technological developments to improve its services, Hochman said.

1 GBP = 7.07635 ILS

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FedEx to sort out Heathrow baggage mess

Posted by | Apr 2, 2008 | |

British Airways PLC canceled 50 flights at London Heathrow airport’s new Terminal 5 and brought in US courier firm FedEx Corp. to help reunite passengers with about 20,000 delayed bags.

The airline scrapped 13 percent of scheduled flights from the terminal on the sixth day of disruption at Europe’s busiest airport. Another 50 flights will be abandoned today, a British Airways spokeswoman Sophie Greenyer said.

Cancellations caused by snags in the USD 8.5 billion terminal’s computerized baggage system total more than 300 since it opened on March 27. The number of bags waiting to be returned to their owners has risen by about one-third in the past two days, though British Airways is now beginning to reduce the backlog, it said.

FedEx handled about 800 bags at Heathrow Monday and planned to deliver about that many bags again yesterday, spokeswoman Sally Davenport said. The Memphis, Tenn.-based company has helped British Airways handle passenger baggage in the past, she said.

FedEx is the second-largest US package shipper behind Atlanta-based United Parcel Service Inc.

British Airways has yet to give guidance on flight cancellations for the rest of the week.

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British Airways World Cargo expands freighter programme across Middle East and South Asia

Posted by | Apr 2, 2008 | |

The additional weekly rotation marks the expansion of British Airways World Cargo’s successful partnership with DHL in the region and comes as a direct response to increased customer demand.

The new rotation means that BA World Cargo now operates two Lahore-Bahrain routings per week while maintaining one Karachi-Bahrain rotation. These routes connect with the Bahrain – London line flights, allowing customers in Pakistan increased access to the BA network, the world’s largest wholly-owned global network covering 200 destinations across 80 countries.

The carrier has also secured additional capacity on flights between Bahrain and Dubai. This gives BA World Cargo a greater footing in the Saudi Arabian market and facilitates flexible customer access to the BA network. British Airways currently operates 14 flights per week from Dubai to London Heathrow.

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Prime minister says appeal to Royal Mail, not us

Posted by | Apr 2, 2008 | |

The Prime Minister has sought to shift responsibility for the threat of closure facing post offices.

Gordon Brown insists the decisions about which branches to close are being made by the Post Office, not the Government. He said that if people had a strong case over the planned closure of their local branch they could appeal, with cases going to Royal Mail chairman Allan Leighton if necessary.

Devon will find out in late May which post offices will be closed as part of a government overhaul of the network.

More than one in six branches in the area could go, among the 2,500 to be shut across the country.

Mr Brown said four million fewer people a week were using post offices than two years ago, and the network was losing GBP 3.5m a week.

“To keep 11,500 post offices going, the changes are being made now,” he said. “These decisions are not being made by us – the Government – but by the Post Office.

“They have come to us, and got more money from us, to enable them to carry out a programme that will cost us GBP 1.7bn over the next few years.

“Thousands of post offices remain in existence as a result of the help that we are giving.”

During a parliamentary debate over the closures many Labour MPs and Ministers were accused of hypocrisy for opposing closure of individual branches but backing the overall programme.

Mr Brown said complaints against specific closures should be aimed at Post Office bosses, not government Ministers.

He said: “It’s the Post Office that’s prepared to reconsider the individual closure decisions under the appeal network, and the appeal can go finally to Allan Leighton.”

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Belgian Post announced consolidated results for 2007

Posted by | Apr 2, 2008 | |

Belgian Post improved its underlying operating profits by 14pct last year on moderate revenue growth, and said its long-term restructuring and modernisation programme is on target ready for full market liberalisation in 2011.

The company increased revenues by 2 pct to EUR 2.28 billion. Excluding the negative impact of selling its French subsidiary Asterion in September 2007, revenues were up by 3 pct. Belgian Post said its “considerable sales efforts” had ensured that the drop in volumes was only 0.1 pct.

The operating profit (EBIT) fell from EUR 155 million in 2006 to EUR 96 million last year. Excluding the effects of one-off expenses, this represented a 14 pct increase, the company said. Net profits dropped to EUR 65 million from EUR 96 million for similar reasons.

The parcels and express business, due to be merged this year under the Taxipost brand, increased revenues slightly by 0.6 pct to EUR 97 million in 2007. “This performance was achieved in spite of a targeted attack from competition against our customer base and before the launch of our new parcels offering in 2008,” Belgian Post noted in its preliminary financial report.

Belgian Post CEO Johnny Thijs commented: “The progress we made in 2007 is due to our efforts during the past five years. Compared to 2003, the group has improved in every respect… Our mission, however, doesn’t stop here. We should continue strengthening our position if we want to face up to all our competitors in a market which will soon be completely liberalised. That’s why we need to further transform and modernise our company,” he stressed.

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India Postal Department to launch foreign exchange service

Posted by | Apr 2, 2008 | |

As part of diversification, the Postal Department is foraying into the foreign exchange sector.

Four foreign exchange counters will be opened at the major post offices in four districts this month. It will be part of the 30 foreign exchange units being opened by the Postal Department across the country.

The foreign exchange counters in the state will be at the General Post Office at Pulimoodu in Thiruvananthapuram and at the head post offices at Ernakulam, Thrissur and Kozhikode, Postal Services director Mervin Alexander told this website’s newspaper.

“Work on starting the counters is going on and we hope to inaugurate them this month itself,” he said.

Among the 30 counters spread in ten states, three had already started functioning at New Delhi and are receiving good response, he said.

“Initially we are only providing currency exchange and travellers’ cheque encashing services. Our main target will be foreign tourists. After knowing the response, more counters will be opened and more services will be offered,” he said.

The Postal Department, which already had money changing services licence of the Reserve Bank of India, is launching the service in association with the Centurion Bank of Punjab. A memorandum of understanding was signed between the department and the bank at the national- level recently. The bank will provide the back office support for the counters and training to the Postal Department staff, Mervin said.

The Postal Department is already carrying out Western Union Money Transfer Services. More than 50 percent of Western Union Money Transfer Services are being done through the Postal Department.

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US Postal Service high-speed sorters get smarter and faster

Posted by | Apr 2, 2008 | |

In a move to enhance mail sorting technology to better serve customers, the Postal Service Board of Governors today approved funding to purchase technology to postmark letters faster and sort them smarter. The 550 Advanced Facer Canceller System (AFCS) machines will replace existing sorters operating on 1980’s technology.

Today’s AFCS machine locates a stamp’s phosphorescent ink and uses it to position the letter for postmarking on the upper right corner of the envelope. It then sends the letter to one of seven bins for additional sorting. The new AFCS will be 15 percent faster, apply barcodes, and process broader-sized letters before sorting them to one of 12 destination bins. The additional bins will reduce downstream processing needs for about 20 percent of the mail. The new equipment, which is more energy efficient, will be deployed between May 2010 and July 2011.

During its meeting today, the Board also approved funding to purchase 400 computer systems to replace existing National Directory Support System (NDSS) and the Integrated Data System (IDS). The Postal Service’s 13,000 automated sorting machines process 212 billion letters, large envelopes (flats) and packages annually. Key to these operations is providing information to the machines to enable proper mail sorting and retrieving information from the machines about their operations.

The NDSS contains the nation’s 148 million addresses and downloads ZIP Code directories to more than 13,000 letter, flat and parcel sorting machines weekly. On a daily basis, the NDSS generates and downloads more than 25,000 programs to sort mail in the order of delivery.

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Bionorica and trans-o-flex to extend cooperation for another five years

Posted by | Apr 2, 2008 | |

Bionorica AG, the leading manufacturer of plant-based medicines based in Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz, Bavaria, and trans-o-flex, the logistics group with a focus on specific solutions for the pharmaceutical sector, have made an early decision to extend their cooperation which has been in place since 1998. The new contract runs from October 1, 2008 and provides for trans-o-flex to add responsibility for warehousing and picking to the existing tasks of delivering packages and pallets for the phyto-pharmaceuticals maker. “The five-year term is a reflection of our positive experience with trans-o-flex and of the attractive total package they have offered us,” according to Dr. Kurt Neudecker, Bionorica sales head. The proximity of the Bionorica production facility in the Oberpfalz area to the trans-o-flex pharmaceutical warehouse in Roth has a positive effect on the business and makes it possible for consignments picked up late in the day to be delivered the following morning, without costly express surcharges being due. The logistics site in Roth is one of several certified pharmaceutical warehouses in Germany which trans-o-flex operates in addition to conventional warehouses.

Apart from reinforcing its market leadership in plant-based medicines in Germany, Bionorica has set itself the goal of further international expansion in 2008. Within the past three years the company has tripled its sales to EUR 115 million. “The high flexibility of the trans-o-flex system, which carries both packages and pallets, is a decisive advantage, especially for fast-growing businesses,” says Peter Astor, Managing Director of trans-o-flex Logistik-Service GmbH. “Highly diverse consignees, from wholesalers to individual pharmacies, can be served in one network, always with the ideal lot sizes and units.” The fact that the new contract covers complete logistics management, and not only distribution services, just shows what a broad spectrum of solutions are offered by trans-o-flex these days.

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