Author: Archive

USPS Board of Governors briefed on third quarter performance & financial results

Posted by | Aug 13, 2007 | |

During Board of Governors meeting, last Wednesday 8th August, Chief Financial Officer H. Glen Walker said revenue for the third quarter totaled USD 18.4 billion, up 2.9 percent from the same period last year. Expenses for the quarter totaled USD 19.1 billion, including USD 878 million that is attributable to the implementation of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, signed into law the end of last year. The result was a USD 659 million net loss for the third quarter.

Total factor productivity (TFP) once again continued its upward trend in the third quarter, increasing by 1.8 percent, with year-to-date TFP up 1.4 percent. TFP measures the relationship between workload and resource usage.

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Indian private couriers not to lower rates

Posted by | Aug 12, 2007 | |

Even after a major tariff revision by the department of posts (DoP) in the below 500gm segment of courier, private players are in no mood to lower rates.

Eyeing a larger share of the Rs 50,000 million business in the below 500 gm segment, DoP reduced tariff in the sub-50 gm segment of the local speed post by 40 pct last month from Rs 20 to Rs 12. The new rate is inclusive of service tax and education cess.

While courier majors like XPS charge Rs 30 for the below 250 gm segment and Rs 50 for the sub-500 gm segment in the same region, department of post charges vary from Rs 12 and Rs 20.

XPS charges Rs 50 for sub 250gm and Rs 75 for below 500gm for the rest of the country. Speed Post charges for courier, other than local; vary from Rs 25 to Rs 80.

Mr.K Prabhakar, president & CEO of XPS, a multimodal express logistics company, said, “We serve a niche customer segment which is driven by service quality rather than price. We don’t see any impact of the decision taken by the DoP.”

According to experts, while majors like Gati and XPS have their niche market, the decision would adversely effect local, unorganized players, who operate on factors such as price rather than service delivery.

Size of the organized sector in the Rs 100,000-million courier industry is about Rs 7,100 crore. Almost 65- 70 pct of the business for the courier industry comes rom the below 300 gm segment. A mere less than 30 pct business comes from the above 500 gm segment.

Gati recently launched value-added services like Café d’eliver and IC -Zip to provide multi-modal solutions to customers.

1 GBP = 81.4266 INR

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Royal Mail mess

Posted by | Aug 12, 2007 | |

Horror stories about the state of Royal Mail abound. But there is a good chance that these tales are not circulating in the form of a letter, stamped and mailed at a post office. That loss of market share lies at the heart of Royal Mail’s problems: its operations are a shambles – not entirely its own fault – and the company is facing ever more competition it is not equipped to handle.

Good news, then, that after weeks of sporadic walkouts, the Communication Workers Union – a bastion of resistance to modernization – has called off further scheduled strikes and sat down with management to reach a deal for 130,000 employees.

In these negotiations, both sides need to understand the two kinds of competition Royal Mail faces: digital communication technologies and more digitized competitors.

Every day, Royal Mail sorts millions of letters by hand and rewards its staff handsomely for the trouble: on average, its employees earn 25 per cent more than their colleagues in private companies. But it is also 40 per cent less efficient than the automated competition.

Reforms need to come fast. Today, one in five letters is handled by competitors. These private delivery services mainly focus on profitable business such as large corporate delivery contracts. If Royal Mail does not modernise its operations soon, it will be left with only unprofitable parts of its operations.

Regulators need to give greater clarity about which aspects of the business they consider a public service. That should help Royal Mail to avoid cross-subsidizing its work as a utility with income from profitable units. Flexibility should extend to price-setting as well. Royal Mail needs to be able to raise prices in smaller steps and at greater frequency.

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E-mail overtakes print for marketing offerings

Posted by | Aug 12, 2007 | |

The volume of marketing offers sent by e-mail has overtaken print direct mail in the UK for the first time as com­panies exploit the low cost and other benefits of electronic campaigns.

The milestone highlights the challenge to Royal Mail and others with sizeable businesses charging for producing and delivering print direct mail when advertisers are reducing print volumes in the GBP 14bn-a-year industry.

Latest figures from the Direct Marketing Association estimate that in the fourth quarter of 2006, commercial e-mail volumes increased by 50 per cent year on year.

The electronic format was heavily adopted by retailers e-mailing vouchers in the run-up to Christmas and that is likely to be repeated this year.

Specialists questioned by the DMA predicted the volume of e-mail marketing would grow by another third.

Most marketers however believe a combination of print and online is the most effective approach, particularly as campaigns can be confused with spam, which is estimated to account for up to 90 per cent of internet traffic.

A new study from Royal Mail found customers prefer to receive both mail and e-mail in different contexts, and spend more if communicated with by both methods.

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Death of the morning post for 60 pct of Britain

Posted by | Aug 11, 2007 | |

Almost two-thirds of homes and businesses will be condemned to afternoon deliveries under fiercely contentious Royal Mail plans.

The proposal, hidden away in a consultation paper, signals yet another downgrading of a once first-class postal service.

The Post Office has been accused of ‘attempting to charge first class prices while delivering a second class service’

Currently, 94.4 per cent of homes and businesses receive their mail before noon, with deliveries as early as 7am for many.

Under the new plan, no one would receive anything before 10.30am, while 60 per cent would have to wait until after midday.

The industry regulator Postcomm has indicated it supports the move, but there is still time for the public to make its voice heard before the consultation ends on August 28.

However, while the company is planning to phase in the changes before the Christmas rush, the directive does not come into force until January.

Royal Mail is under no legal obligation to ensure deliveries are made before noon even though research shows the overwhelming majority of consumers values such a target.

The consultation document says the plan would be to “shift the peak in residential deliveries between 10.30 am and 2 pm”.

An accompanying graph shows there will be no deliveries before 10.30am. Ten per cent would be delivered by 11am, a further 10 per cent by 11.30 am and a further 20 per cent by noon. The graph suggests the rest would arrive by 2.15 pm.

Royal Mail claims that maintaining the current scale of deliveries will cost GBP 280 million by 2009/10 and require an increase in the cost of stamps to pay for it.

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Malta Post: Future of postal workers discussed

Posted by | Aug 11, 2007 | |

The Union Haddiema Maghqudin has met Investments Minister Austin Gatt to discuss the future of Maltapost employees in connection with the company’s privatization.

In a statement yesterday, the union said it had secured a guarantee that no worker will be laid off, assurances the ministry had already made when announcing the privatization.

On July 30, the ministry had announced that Lombard Bank Malta plc had become the company’s major shareholder and that Malta post’s privatization would be completed once it sold its remaining shares on the Malta Stock Exchange.

Several points were discussed during the meeting, among them the right of government employees to return to their former offices and departments.

Those who had had joined the government before 1979, but chose to remain with Malta post would retain the right to a sum of money from the Treasury.

In the coming days, the union will be meeting Lombard officials to further discuss the employees’ future. It will also call a meeting for the workers to inform them of the outcome of these meetings.

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DHL boosts regional operations with appointment of senior marketing professionals

Posted by | Aug 11, 2007 | |

DHL Express Middle East today announced the appointment of two senior marketing professionals to further strengthen the company’s position as the region’s leading express and logistics provider.

Fiona Taag has been brought in to oversee the regional marketing strategies as Area Marketing Manager. Taag was previously the National Marketing Manager at DHL Express New Zealand, where she was involved in the DHL domestic joint venture with New Zealand Post, under the umbrella of Express Couriers Ltd. In addition, Taag was responsible for managing DHL’s title sponsorship of the DHL New Zealand Lions Series 2005 – a tour of New Zealand by the British & Irish Lions rugby team.

A New Zealand national also with British citizenship, Taag has a Master in International Marketing from the University of Waikato in New Zealand, and is based at DHL’s regional hub in Bahrain.

Elliot Santon has also joined DHL’s regional marketing team as UAE Marketing Manager.

Brought in from the UK, Santon has 10 years experience in UK-based advertising, branding and marketing agencies covering all disciplines of through-the-line communications. Having developed strategies for many well known global brands such as Vodafone, CocaCola and Tesco, including some UK high-street brands in the retail and leisure industries, Santon is well placed to handle UAE marketing requirements for the global express and logistics leader.

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DHL to transfer two centres to Bahrain

Posted by | Aug 11, 2007 | |

DHL has decided to transfer two of its main aviation services centers from Africa and Europe to the kingdom.

Operations of its Harare and Brussels centers would be merged and shifted to Bahrain to serve the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe segments.

Bahrain’s official new agency, BNA, reported that the kingdom’s Civil Aviation Affairs under Secretary made the announcement and said the move would centralize all the company’s aviation services in the region.

Bahrain is a major hub for the cargo leader’s Middle East operations with its regional distribution centre based at the Bahrain International airport. With a fleet of 17 aircraft and 250 vehicles it operates an integrated air and land network catering to the Middle East and Arab worlds.

DHL began its Bahrain operations way back in 1974 with postal parcel services and currently has over 550 employees here to cater to the region’s DHL Express customers. DHL Bahrain became the first centre in its global network to launch a new portfolio of Express products moving to a time and day based range.

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