Author: Archive

German Postbank jumps as Deutsche Post signals it may sell

Posted by | Nov 8, 2007 | |

Deutsche Postbank AG, Germany’s biggest consumer bank by clients, rose the most since its initial public offering after parent company Deutsche Post AG said it may look at the lender’s future next year.

The stock surged 5.60 euros, or 13 percent, to 59.54 euros in the biggest gain since the bank sold shares to the public in June 2004. The Bonn-based company’s market value rose to 8.12 billion euros ($11.9 billion).

Deutsche Post Chief Executive Officer Klaus Zumwinkel, answering a question at a Frankfurt analysts conference, said that after Germany’s mail market is liberalized in 2008, there will be “more time to think about” Postbank’s future. Deutsche Post is “the best owner” of the bank at the moment, Zumwinkel said, adding that the unit has attracted interest from a number of banks. He later reiterated that Postbank isn’t up for sale.

Postbank today also said third-quarter profit almost tripled as the sale of its insurance business offset a 61 million-euro writedown on U.S. subprime-related investments. Chief Financial Officer Marc Hess said the bank is confident that the amount is sufficient to cover risks from securities linked to loans for U.S. homebuyers with patchy credit histories.

Postbank stock has declined 23 percent this year, the second-worst performance on Germany’s benchmark DAX Index. Deutsche Post holds 50 percent plus 1 share of Postbank.

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UPS board names new Director

Posted by | Nov 8, 2007 | |

Rudy Markham, the recently retired Chief Financial Officer of Unilever, today was named to the Board of Directors of UPS.

Markham, 61, will serve on the Board until the next UPS annual shareowners’ meeting in May 2008, at which time he is expected to stand for election to a regular one-year term. After his appointment, Markham was named to the Audit Committee during a regularly scheduled Board meeting here.

In other business, the Board declared a regular quarterly dividend of USD 0.42 per share on all outstanding Class A and Class B shares. The dividend is payable Jan. 3, 2008, to shareholders of record on Nov. 19, 2007. UPS has either increased or maintained its dividend every year for more than three decades.

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Deutsche Post World Net: Business on track in 2007

Posted by | Nov 8, 2007 | |

Deutsche Post World Net completed the first nine months of the year according to plan. Once again, all divisions contributed to the 5.3 percent increase in revenue to 46.5 billion euros. At 2.5 billion euros, EBIT was slightly below last year’s level, which included non-recurring gains totaling 375 million euros. Excluding these non-recurring gains, the underlying EBIT rose about 10 percent. The strongest earnings growth was achieved by the LOGISTICS and EXPRESS divisions.

“The first nine months of the year were right on target,” Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Klaus Zumwinkel said at a press conference in Frankfurt. “We succeeded in our efforts to further increase the profitability of the EXPRESS business; and the LOGISTICS division has also made positive strides in terms of growth and new customers.” In addition to that, FINANCIAL SERVICES with Deutsche Postbank had a strong quarter and recorded a substantial increase in profit despite the turbulences in the financial markets.

All in all, Deutsche Post World Net now expects EBIT excluding non-recurring effects of around 3.7 billion euros for the full year of 2007, slightly more than the at least 3.6 billion euros forecast earlier. Therefore, the management board will propose to raise the dividend for 2007 by 20 percent to 90 cents per share from 75 cents per share.

As part of its capital markets program also presented today, Deutsche Post World Net plans to change the way it will report its business prospects in the future. Deutsche Post World Net will communicate specific earnings targets for the following year.For 2008, the Group expects EBIT to rise 14 percent to around 4.2 billion euros.

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Deutsche Post World Net presents capital markets program

Posted by | Nov 8, 2007 | |

Deutsche Post World Net today presented its “Roadmap to Value,” a far-reaching capital markets program to use the company’s excellent market position to generate more value for its shareholders. The program is aimed at making Deutsche Post World Net the most attractive investment in the logistics industry in addition to being the No. 1 choice for customers and employees.

The capital markets program “Roadmap to Value” is aimed at making the group the most attractive investment in the logistics industry.

With a comprehensive profit improvement program affecting all units and divisions, Deutsche Post World Net plans to generate 1 billion euros to underpin EBIT growth through 2009. In order to boost cash, the Group aims to reduce net working capital by 700 million euros and raise at least 1 billion euros in proceeds from the disposal of real-estate and other non-strategic assets over the next two years. The management board will also propose to raise the 2007 dividend by 20 percent to 90 cents per share compared with 75 cents per share for 2006. To help increase transparency, Deutsche Post World Net will unbundle its SERVICES division and in principle has committed itself to a stable reporting structure in the future.

In order to establish the value-based approach throughout the Group, Deutsche Post World Net will introduce a new performance metric. The metric, EBIT after Asset Charge, is aimed at motivating managers to generate more value from their day-to-day businesses. Chief Financial Officer John Allan: “The new metric will help us leverage our strengths and attack our weaknesses in order to raise returns for investors and to serve customers even better. We have highly motivated, best-in-class managers and employees around the globe and I am very confident that they are going to rise to this challenge.”

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Stamps issued in support of the Nairobi Congress

Posted by | Nov 8, 2007 | |

At least five African countries have recently issued postage stamps to support the organization of the 24th Universal Postal Congress, to be held in Nairobi (Kenya) from 13 August to 3 September 2008. South Africa, Botswana, Mauritius, Nigeria and Tanzania will give Kenya half of the proceeds from the sale of these stamps. Kenya is also taking part in this effort, intended not only to raise funds but also to announce the Congress throughout the continent.

Kenya presented the stamps to UPU member countries during the Council of Administration session, now taking place in Berne (Switzerland). Bitange NDEMO, Kenya’s Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Communications said: “I am extremely delighted that our brothers and sisters from Africa have joined us in this endeavour in the true spirit of African solidarity. All of Africa is preparing for this event.” The host country is receiving the support and assistance of a committee set up for the occasion. For South Africa’s Lyndall SHOPE-MAFOLE, who chairs this African Support Committee, “the Nairobi Congress should bring changes for postal sector development and efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. The postal network is a key infrastructure that will provide access to new information technologies.” UPU Director General Edouard DAYAN also praised the solidarity among countries. “The pride that not only Kenya, but the whole of Africa is attaching to this event is applaudable, and I believe we can look forward to a real African experience in Nairobi next year. Next year’s Congress will again offer us the opportunity to confirm the strong sense of solidarity that exists among all our members”.

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CWU and Pensioners demonstrate against UK post office closures

Posted by | Nov 8, 2007 | |

This week, the Communication Workers Union and the National Pensioners Convention held a joint demonstration outside Trafalgar Square Post Office against closures and franchising.

Demonstrators were concerned about the Government’s decision to fund the closure of 2,500 sub-post offices nationwide by the end of 2008, and Post Office Ltd’s decision to enter into franchise partnerships with WHSmith at 70 locations. Postwatch came under criticism too, with Kate Hoey MP accusing us of not doing enough to oppose the changes.

Postwatch wants a post office network which is sustainable and not subject to unplanned closures, and which allows customers reasonable access to services. We recognize that customers’ habits are changing and that the network must change with them. Because of this, we are scrutinizing Post Office Ltd’s proposals before every public consultation of the closure programme. Our aim is to minimise customer inconvenience and encourage local input on proposals.

While we understand customers’ concerns about franchising, it is a means of continuing to provide services, often with increased opening hours. Moreover, by reducing operational costs in this way, Post Office Ltd should be better able to create much-needed stability for its network.

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Austrian Post to lose Neckermann Oesterreich delivery contract from mid 2008

Posted by | Nov 8, 2007 | |

Austrian Post will lose its delivery contract with the Austrian arm of the mail-order company Neckermann from the middle of next year to the German logistics company Hermes, according to the Austrian daily WirtschaftsBlatt.

‘What is certain is that we are going to switch (to Hermes) in the first half of 2008,’ Bernd Kupfer the head of Neckerman Oesterreich told WirtschaftsBlatt.

Neckermann Oesterreich sends between 3-4 mln packages a year in Austria and is 49 pct-owned by Germany’s Acandor AG.

Yesterday, Austrian Post said Quelle Oesterreich, also a unit of Acandor, had decided to use alternative postal services providers to deliver its 7 mln packages in Austria as of Jan 1.

Post said it expects to see its operating results lowered by around 20 mln eur from 2008; as a result the share plummeted over 14 pct to 24 eur.

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KIOSK announces bundled services for wireless kiosks

Posted by | Nov 8, 2007 | |

Together with TeraNova Consulting Group and Nationwide CDMA Wireless Providers, KIOSK Information Systems is providing a bundled approach to wireless kiosk deployments.

According to a news release, KIOSK is partnering with TeraNova to manage full lifecycle requirements, including testing, staging and on-going support and management of the wireless solution.

Mobile Deployment support services via the KIOSK-TeraNova relationship include:
Site survey for connectivity
Network & equipment sourcing, activations management
Router configuration
Mobile broadband card activation and provisioning
Carrier contract and order management
Managed installation
Help desk support
Maintenance
Reporting and training
KIOSK says one of the benefits of deploying kiosks with integrated wireless capability is position flexibility. Kiosk placement is an essential element in customer adoption and solution ROI, but ideal pilot positioning can be somewhat elusive. Without the commitment and expense of hard-wiring equipment, clients can experiment to find the ideal “sweet spots” that provide maximum traffic and return.

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