Author: Archive

New Zealand Post adopts pricing in proportion

Posted by | Feb 15, 2008 | |

New Zealand Post today announced new pricing for domestic letters and parcels which better reflects the cost of delivering these services.

Mail will be priced in direct proportion to its size and weight from 28 March 2008.

“The vast majorities of letters sent are small or medium and will not change in price. A medium letter sent Standard Post will still cost 50 cents,” said New Zealand Post’s Chief Executive Officer Postal Services Peter Fenton.

Mr Fenton says that size makes a difference to the cost of handling mail.

Mr Fenton said New Zealand Post was known internationally as a low-cost postal service and the new ‘pricing in proportion’ approach would not change this.

“A foolscap envelope (E35 sized, less than 20mm thick and weighing under 500gm) would cost NZD 5.97 to send in Australia and NZD 3.81 Second Class in the UK in New Zealand currency, but is still only NZD 2.00 in New Zealand under pricing in proportion.”

International and bulk mail services are not affected by the changes.

Parcel dimensions and corresponding prices will also change under pricing in proportion in line with the new letter prices. Already purchased existing prepaid bags and parcel tickets will remain valid.

Smaller lighter parcels will go down in price as a result.

A new range of parcels called ParcelPost™ is being introduced to replace the current packet and parcel services. The ParcelPost™ range includes new handy pre-paid bags to make sending smaller items more convenient and provides proof of delivery for an extra fee.

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ComReg publishes its 2008-10 Postal Strategy Statement

Posted by | Feb 15, 2008 | |

The Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) today
published its Strategy Statement for the Postal Sector in Ireland for the
period 2008 – 2010. The statement sets out ComReg’s vision of a
dynamic and competitive market offering an increasingly wide range of
competitively-priced, quality postal products and services.

Postal services have long been recognised as an essential part of
Ireland’s economic infrastructure and this is reflected in the Universal
Service Obligation and other such safeguards in the interests of users.

The Strategy Statement notes that the European Council and the
European Parliament have now adopted a Common Position on the third
Postal Directive, setting a deadline of 31 December 2010 for the full
market opening of postal markets.

This new Directive will provide Member States with the flexibility to tailor
the regulatory framework to suit national characteristics. The Minister for
Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Eamon Ryan TD, has
already announced that he will consult with stakeholders on the options
available to him before transposing the Directive into Irish Law. The need
to balance the desire for light-handed regulation with the need for proper
controls to deter any potential for anti-competitive activity will be
fundamental in determining how this is best achieved.

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Strengthened Posten grows with improved profitability

Posted by | Feb 15, 2008 | |

Posten has continued to deliver strong financial results throughout 2007. Operating
earnings improved by 38 pct to total almost SEK 2 billion. These are the best earnings
from the core business in Posten’s 371-year history. At the same time, sales increased by
7 pct, totaling approximately SEK 30 billion. This shows that we have succeeded, already
during the first year of our new operational structure, in carrying out our focused
efforts to reduce costs and increase income by clearer specialization and increased
customer focus.
1 USD = 6.30871 SEK
The strong 10 pct growth of Posten Logistics is solid proof that we have been successful
in standing up to increasingly tough competition to strengthen our position on the
market. With additional acquisitions in Finland and the establishment of the distribution
network MyPack in Norway, Posten Logistics has created the conditions for a more
unified logistics concept on the Finnish market and broadened its offer for distance
trading, and has increased its total capacity on the growing Nordic logistics market.

By successfully integrating Posten’s printing operations and winning important
deals, Stralfors has grown by a full 31 pct within information logistics. At the same
time, Stralfors has both streamlined the business with divestments of non-core businesses, and has created new growth opportunities, especially for Graphic Solutions
aimed toward the pharmaceutical industry.

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Strong Nordic growth for Norway Post in 2007

Posted by | Feb 15, 2008 | |

Norway Post increased its revenue by 15.7 per cent in 2007 to NOK 27.4 billion. The largest increase occurred in the Logistics and IT segments. Earnings before taxes were NOK 949 million, compared with NOK 1 200 million in 2006.

Good progress was made in 2007 in terms of income growth, improved quality and strengthened positions in Norway and the Nordic region. Turnover from businesses outside Norway increased by NOK 2.1 billion, or 50 per cent over 2006, and comprised 22.8 per cent of the Group’s revenue in 2007.

This strong growth shows that we are on the right path in terms of strengthening our position in Norway and the Nordic region. Customers are increasingly Nordic, and Norway Post has to offer solutions that meet Nordic demands, says Norway Post CEO Dag Mejdell.

The Group’s profitability declined in 2007 due to increased personnel and transport costs, additional resources to improve delivery quality, and costs related to the expansion of CityMail.

Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) in 2007 were NOK 1 080 million, compared with NOK 1 313 million in 2006. EBIT before non-recurring items was NOK 826 million compared with NOK 1 283 the previous year. Norway Post’s EBIT margin in 2007 was 3.9 per cent, compared with 5.5 per cent in 2006. The Group has identified concrete initiatives to strengthen EBIT going forward, especially in the Post segment.

The extensive measures implemented last year to improve delivery quality for letters and packages have produced good results. 85.1 per cent of A-priority mail arrived overnight in 2007, compared with 82.4 per cent in 2006. The five other statutory license requirements were surpassed by a significant margin in 2007.

The quality improvement initiatives implemented in 2007 will give increasingly positive results in 2008.

1 USD = 5.33749 NOK

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Postbank moves over billion thresholds

Posted by | Feb 15, 2008 | |

Deutsche Postbank AG moved over the threshold of EUR1 billion in terms of its pre-tax profit. Despite intensive competition in retail banking, the flat interest rate structure and ongoing jitters on the capital markets, Deutsche Postbank AG improved its pre-tax profit in 2007 by 6.7 pct year-on-year to EUR1,004 million, on an adjusted basis by as much as 9.8 pct year-on-year to EUR1,029 million.

The return on equity before taxes increased from 18.9 pct at the end of 2006 to 19.3 pct as of 31 December, 2007. The cost/income ratio of the whole bank improved to 67.2 pct (2006: 68.3 pct) and in the traditional banking business (without transaction banking) even reached 64.8pct (66.7pct). The financial market crisis originating from the US property market impacted Postbank only to a limited extent. Overall, it posted write-downs of EUR112 million. Due to a non-recurring effect resulting from the tax reform, net income increased by 25.2 pct to EUR 870 million (EUR 695 million).

Including the gain on the disposal of the insurance holdings and despite negative non-recurring effects, total income improved year-on-year by 3.3 pct to EUR 4.25 billion.

Balance sheet-related revenues, comprising net interest income, net trading income and net income from investment securities, rose by 4.2 pct to EUR 2.82 billion.

Against the backdrop of a flat and since the summer at times inverted yield curve, net interest income increased year-on-year by a pleasing 4.0pct to EUR 2.24 billion. Despite challenging conditions on the capital market, net trading income at EUR 290 million was 9.8pct higher than the previous-year figure of EUR 264 million. Net income from investment securities was dominated by the disposal of the insurance holdings to Talanx.

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Mory Group: Press release from Alain Breau

Posted by | Feb 14, 2008 | |

The negotiations that were engaged a few weeks ago with a stranger company, concerning the MORY TEAM messagerie network, will not bring to an accord on a juridical or financial aspect, as both parties did not reach an agreement on these points.

The company strategy for developing, performing and remaining independent will hence be pursued through a common agreement between its CEO Alain BREAU, its financial partners Bridgepoint and Barclays, and operational management (regional managers and subsidiary managers), that will be associated to MORY TEAM capital, in the scope of an increase of the capital cover of this company, which is the main subsidiary of MORY holding.

MORY GROUP specifies that the various operations that happened in 2006 and 2007 allowed it to increase its capital cover by 22 pct, reaching now 61 million euros.
The gearing (total debts (including LBO senior debt) / capital cover) has increased in the meantime from 1,52 pct to 54 pct.

The Administration Board confirmed its full confidence in the MORY GROUP future, which doubled its size between 1999 and 2007, and which is now directly settled in 15 European countries, North Africa and Central Asia.

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FedEx to take on 200 more staff in France

Posted by | Feb 14, 2008 | |

FedEx Express has announced plans to take on 200 more employees in France during 2008, split between its European hub at Roissy-CDG and its 14 branches in Paris and the regions. This would be an 8 pct increase in staff numbers.

FedEx Express, which opened its European hub at CDG in 1999, currently employs 2,500 people in France. A similar number of additional employees could be taken on annually over the next few years as the company grows its business.

“The express market is very dynamic and our recruitment needs reflect this development,” said Aurélie Morin, head of human resources. Most of the 200 additional jobs planned for this year will be in the positions of handlers, couriers and operational managers.

FedEx will concentrate on taking on locally-based staff who live close to its hub and branches. The company offers good career opportunities, with 80% of managers having advanced up through the ranks, Morin pointed out.

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DPWN chief Klaus Zumwinkel under tax evasion investigation

Posted by | Feb 14, 2008 | |

The home and office of Deutsche Post chief executive Klaus Zumwinkel were today raided by German officials investigating alleged tax evasion of some EUR 1 million. He was also taken for questioning but later released.

Tax authorities arrived at his home in Cologne at 7 a.m. and spent five hours there before taking him for questioning. Officials also searched his office at the DPWN headquarters.

A spokesman for the Bochum public prosecutor’s office said that Zumwinkel and other unnamed persons were under suspicion of tax evasion. The investigation focused on financial investments made by Zumwinkel in Liechtenstein, he said. The sum in question amounted to about EUR 1 million. An arrest warrant was not exercised since Zumwinkel had paid a bail sum of “not insignificant size”.

Deutsche Post said in a brief statement that Zumwinkel had responded in detail to the authorities regarding the allegations against him and had returned home. The entire management board, including the CEO, was “fully functional” and continuing its business as usual, it added.

Zumwinkel, 64, has been chairman and CEO of Deutsche Post since 1990, and has led its transformation from a domestic mail business into the world’s largest logistics group. His current contract is due to expire in November, and there has been media speculation that he will retire from the post at the end of the year. He is expected to take over the position of Deutsche Post supervisory board chairman.

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