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DHL agree partnership with Walgreens

Posted by | Jan 9, 2008 | |

DHL has entered into a strategic agreement with Walgreens, the nation’s largest drugstore chain, which will more than double the number of retail outlets offering DHL Express shipping services nationally.

Walgreens is projected to expand to more than 6,500 locations by the end of 2008 with more than 1,600 stores open 24 hours a day..

The new agreement is designed to readily service shippers sending and dropping off their packages via DHL for overnight, ground or international delivery. The DHL Shipping Spot will be staffed by Walgreens associates at Walgreens photo counters to weigh, label and ship customer packages to U.S. or international destinations, creating a simple and easy shipping experience.

Walgreens customers will have access to DHL’s core express products and services. Shippers will benefit from the convenience of a DHL location “down the street” and “around the corner” that provides access to a global shipping network serving over 225 countries and territories.

By end of 2008, DHL will have more than doubled its retail presence with retail shipping locations, including Walgreens and OfficeMax locations, as well as thousands of independently owned and operated shipping centers that are part of the DHL Authorized Shipping Center network.

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China Postal Savings Bank opens 20th provincial-level branch

Posted by | Jan 9, 2008 | |

China Postal Savings Bank (CPSB) opened a provincial-level branch in eastern Zhejiang province on Wednesday, bringing the number of provinces in which it can conduct a full range of financial services to 20.

With 1,500 post office outlets already established in Zhejiang, CPSB, now China’s fifth largest commercial bank in terms of deposits following its inauguration nine months ago, will be able to provide credit card business, loans and financial management services in both urban and rural areas, according to a branch spokesman.

Post offices in China began to offer postal savings services in1986 but until now were not authorized to provide lending or credit card services.

There are 36,000 post office outlets nationwide, almost 60 percent of them in rural areas, and 270 million account holders.

CPSB has been officially approved to establish branches at all levels around the country, including 34 provincial-level branches and over 20,000 sub-branches, the China Banking Regulatory Commission said.

The bank’s governor Tao Liming previously said it aimed to open all its provincial-level branches by the end of this month.

By the end of October, CPSB had registered 1.7 trillion yuan (about 233 billion U.S. dollars) in deposits.

CPSB was inaugurated last March representing a substantial step forward in China’s financial reform and is expected to improve financial services in the country’s rural areas.

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UPS adopts new financial policy to enhance shareholder value

Posted by | Jan 9, 2008 | |

UPS today announced its Board of Directors has approved a change in financial policy regarding the company’s capital structure designed to enhance UPS’s value to shareowners. Under the new policy, UPS intends to significantly increase the debt component of its balance sheet.

Going forward, the company intends to manage its balance sheet to a target debt ratio within a range of 50-to-60 pct funds-from-operations-to-total-debt. Previously, there was no stated metric.

“We have been studying our capital structure options for some time,” said Kurt Kuehn, UPS’s chief financial officer. “This change in policy will permit us to make increased investments in the business, pursue selective acquisitions and undertake larger share repurchases.”

To begin implementation of the new policy, the Board authorized an immediate increase in the amount of funds available for stock repurchases from approximately USD 2 billion to USD 10 billion. The company intends to complete that level of share repurchases in the next 24 months. Repurchases may take the form of an accelerated share repurchase program, open market purchases or such other methods as the Board deems appropriate.

“UPS has had a long-standing commitment to a very strong balance sheet for decades and that will not change,” added Scott Davis, UPS’s chairman and CEO. “Indeed, we are putting that balance sheet strength to work to more efficiently deploy capital for the benefit of our shareowners. UPS’s consistent, stable cash flows mean we can accept a higher degree of debt while continuing to strategically grow our business.”

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Royal Mail Group renews occupational health services contract with Atos Healthcare (UK)

Posted by | Jan 9, 2008 | |

The contract is initially extended for three years with the option to extend by a further two years.

Atos Healthcare has been delivering occupational health services to the Group since 2002, where it has helped to successfully reduce absenteeism in the Royal Mail letters business, The new contract incorporates a risk reward model, with Atos Healthcare being incentivised to help Royal Mailfurther reduce absenteeism.

This helps us deliver excellent service to our customers, while also playing a key role in making the company a great place in which to work.“ said Dr. Steve Boorman Director of Corporate and Social Responsibility at Royal Mail Group

Atos Healthcare will deliver the full range of occupational health services including a 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme that provides timely and professional resources to help employees manage issues linked to stress, for example the death of a close relative.

It will also provide sickness absence management, pre-employment screening, driver medicals, health screening, vaccinations service and progammes to educate and inform staff about health related issues, including a mobile facility that continually tours Royal Mail Group office locations.

“Innovative Occupational Health services are essential if businesses are to improve the health and well-being of their employees,” said Mark Bounds, senior vice president at Atos Healthcare.

“We will continue to work with Royal Mail Group to deliver a proactive programme that benefits all employees, while helping Royal Mail Group to increase productivity and gain competitive advantage.”

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Decisions on Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Post Office Branches Announced

Posted by | Jan 9, 2008 | |

Post Office Ltd today announced decisions on the future of Post Office® branches across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight following a six week public consultation ending on 26 November. Post Office® services will be provided through a network of 300 branches, which supports the national accessibility criteria introduced by the Government and ensures that 99.5 pct of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight’s population will either see no change to their existing branch or will remain within one mile (by road distance) of an alternative branch.

The plan confirmed today means that 61 branches will close in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight with the first closures scheduled to take place in February 2008. These branches were detailed in the Area Plan proposal published on 16 October 2007.

The replacement of eight branches by outreach solutions was also confirmed in principle today subject to final agreement with Postwatch. However for six of the branches, where Post Office Ltd is still to finalise detailed proposals a further consultation process will be held. Information on these proposals will be published shortly.

Following a review of issues raised during consultation Goodworth Clatford Post Office branch, originally proposed for closure will now remain open. Feedback showed concerns about a range of issues and that a disproportionate number of closures were proposed on the southern side of Andover, with the nearest branches to Goodworth Clatford – Anna Valley to the north and Leckford to the south – both being proposed for closure.

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Decision Announcement on Glasgow, Central Scotland and Argyll and Bute Area Plan

Posted by | Jan 9, 2008 | |

Post Office Ltd today (January 9 2008) announced decisions on the future of Post Office® branches across Greater Glasgow, Central Scotland and Argyll & Bute, following a six week public consultation ending on 3 December 2007.

Post Office® services will continue to be provided through a network of 264 branches, which supports the national accessibility criteria introduced by the UK Government and ensures that 99.9 pct of the area’s population will either see no change to their existing branch or will remain within one mile (by road distance) of an alternative branch.

The plan confirmed today also means that 40 branches will close within this area plan, with the first closures scheduled to take place in February. These branches were detailed in the Area Plan proposal published on 23 October 2007.

During this first six-week local public consultation, Post Office Ltd received around 5,665 responses and attended 35 meetings with customers and their representatives to understand customers’ concerns. This also helped to ensure that all information provided by customers formed part of the final decision regarding each affected branch in the area plan.

Four branches originally proposed for closure – Cultenhove in Stirling, Auchenback in Barrhead, Kelvindale and Hyndland in Glasgow – will now remain open following a review of the issues raised during consultation. These issues related to the factors of geography, the availability of local transport and access to alternative branches, local demographics and the impact on local economics.

During consultation, feedback relating to Kelvindale Post Office highlighted the lack of transport to one of the alternative branches at Hillhead. We also noted the regeneration plans by Tesco Plc to redevelop its store at Maryhill, which also hosts a Post Office branch.

Post Office Ltd has also removed Hyndland Post Office branch from the plan following further consideration into the proximity and impact on alternative branches and bus routes in the area.

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Pitney Bowes launches online resource for Intelligent Mail barcode

Posted by | Jan 9, 2008 | |

Pitney Bowes has launched an Intelligent Mail barcode resource area on its postal information site, www.pbpostalinfo.com.

“The Intelligent Mail Barcode is the key that will unlock a host of new services for mailers,” said John Ward, president of mail services for Pitney Bowes Inc. “We will have tremendous new opportunities to use information to enhance the value of each mail piece, which will help mailers, recipients and the entire mailstream value chain.”

The site includes background on the Intelligent Mail barcode, which was developed by the US Postal Service to encode routing and tracking information on mail. It first became available for use in 2006. The site also contains a link to a Pitney Bowes whitepaper called “Getting Smart About Intelligent Mail.”

The US Postal Service is currently seeking feedback on proposed rules related to the use of Intelligent Mail barcodes. According to these rules, as of January 2009, automation prices will no longer be available for the Postnet barcode. In contrast to the Intelligent Mail barcode, the Postnet barcode only encodes routing information.

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Fund transfers for Mongolians get faster

Posted by | Jan 8, 2008 | |

Mongolians workers in Korea can now send money to their home country much faster than before.

The Korea Post launched Monday (Jan.7) the so-called Eurogiro service with Mongolia, which enables people in Korea to wire money to Mongolia within three to five days using an electronic money transfer system.

Eurogiro is a fast and cost-effective electronic transaction system that easily allows cross-border transfers of funds.

Users can directly send money to the recipient’s home address through the system or deposit money into an account issued by a postal office to transfer funds.

Previously wiring money to Mongolia from Korea had taken much longer, because users first had to get a certificate of money exchange from Mongolia and then send money by mail.

With the launch of the service, Mongolia is the third country to use Eurogiro with Korea, following Japan and Switzerland. The Korea Post plans to further expand the number of countries to use the service with.

60 countries are members of the Eurogiro network.

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