Author: Archive

TNT Post provides more clarity on effects of cost-saving initiatives

Posted by | Apr 3, 2007 | |

TNT Post provided more clarity to its employees of the effect on jobs of the measures the company will be taking to safeguard its success in the longer term in a postal market that is experiencing declining volumes and increasing competition. The company hopes that it can avoid large-scale involuntary redundancies by complementing its operational efficiency measures with changes to employment conditions and benefits to bring these in line with the market.

TNT Post does not believe that operational efficiency measures alone will be sufficient to achieve the cost savings of 300 million euros that were announced on 4 December 2006. This would result in 11,000 employees losing their jobs between 2007 and 2010. Because natural attrition and job mobility programmes would be insufficient to absorb this level of job loss, large-scale involuntary redundancies would be the inevitable result. TNT Post does not see this as socially preferable.

TNT Post has opted for an alternative in which operational efficiency measures will be combined with changes to the employment package and additional incentives to encourage employees to leave the company.

In this approach, employee wages will be, at best, frozen at the present level for the next two and a half years. In addition, other conditions of employment will have to be brought more in line with the market. With these measures the company believes it can limit the loss to between 6,500 and 7,000 jobs, most of which can be absorbed by natural attrition and assisted reemployment. TNT Post emphasises however that unfortunately it may not be possible to avoid involuntary redundancies.

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Royal Mail may charge extra for deliveries to rural areas

Posted by | Apr 3, 2007 | |

The Royal Mail is planning to charge some businesses more for sending mail to London and remote rural locations so it can cut delivery prices elsewhere in the country.

Officials say charges that more accurately reflect the cost of moving mail through the congested capital and out to the furthest corners of the UK will enable it to provide a better deal to companies wanting to blanket addresses in more accessible locations.

Both the company and regulators underlined yesterday that the charges will make no difference to residents and small businesses sending stamped mail.

The changes – planned for April 2009 at the earliest – will apply to a limited number of firms that send out vast amounts of junk mail, bills, statements, and other business correspondence using certain bulk mail services.

Eyebrows have been raised that Royal Mail finds it as expensive to deliver to London as far off places in the British Isles and the regulator Postcomm is wondering why bosses are so keen on the new price structure when most customers involved have already said they do not want it.

But the higher wages paid to staff working in the capital and the congestion charge are among the arguments for higher charges – although critics say the service would be better improving its efficiency in London.

Under the proposals a certain kind of business in London planning a mailshot on Leeds would be likely to pay 4.9 per cent less for deliveries to a business district and two per cent less to a densely populated area.

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New economy services slashes costs for exporters

Posted by | Apr 3, 2007 | |

Up to half of New Zealand businesses sending items overseas would be prepared to trade off an extra day or two in delivery times in exchange for a big saving in international courier costs.

That’s why New Zealand Post has launched a new cut-price international courier service that will get merchandise to Australia in just 2-3 days – and 10 other countries within six days – and will cost 30% less than their premium courier service.

The aim of International Economy Courier is to provide a far more cost-effective service for exporters and other organisations.

New Zealand Post’s International General Manager, Clare Kernot, says studies by research company Nielsen show that many parcels and documents “don’t have to be on someone’s desk in Sydney the next day”.

“The Nielsen research shows that many organisations – particularly exporters – will be more than happy for a parcel to take two to three days to cross the Tasman if it means they’ll make big cost savings.”

Kernot says New Zealand Post wants to fill “a major hole in the market – between the low-cost international mail services and the high-cost courier services offered by most international courier companies”.

She says an astonishing number of people overseas are, for example, buying innovative New Zealand products from New Zealand websites. “Many people are prepared to wait a few days for parcels to turn up. Our International Economy Courier service offers all the security, track-and-trace and door-to-door delivery of full-price courier services – it just runs at a slightly more leisurely pace but costs considerably less.”

Delivery of a 5kg parcel from New Zealand to Sydney will cost NZD53.75 under International Economy Courier compared to NZD76.79 via New Zealand Post’s premium International Express service.

International Economy Courier will deliver items weighing up to 30kg to 11 countries – Australia, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, United States, Ireland and the UK. Items travelling the farthest distance – to Ireland and the UK – will be delivered in 5-6 days.

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PostaPay launches money service in US

Posted by | Apr 3, 2007 | |

The Postal Corporation of Kenya (PCK) has officially launched PostaPay, its money transfer service, for Kenyans living overseas.The service will enable Kenyans in the Diaspora to send funds directly to places such as schools when paying tuition for relatives or dependants.

The service is being offered through a partnership with Afripayments LLC, a US based company that is also a co-owner of Nairobi-based Afripayments Kenya Ltd.

A high powered delegation from PostaPay headquarters in Nairobi led by the Postal Corporation of Kenya chairman, Major general (Rtd) Peter Kariuki and the CEO and Postmaster general Mr Fred Odhiambo were on hand for the launch.

Kenya’s ambassador to the United States, Mr Rateng’ Ogego, was the chief guest during the official launching ceremony at a Washington DC hotel.

“The country is hungry for new investments,” Mr Odhiambo said.

Posta has over 200 outlets throughout Kenya and the number of outlets is to increase, he added.

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DPD expands express services in Germany

Posted by | Apr 2, 2007 | |

DPD has upgraded its express services to try to win more business in the strongly-growing premium segment of the CEP market.

The GeoPost subsidiary said that it has expanded its existing time-definite next-day delivery options of 10:00 and 12:00 with the addition of an 8:30 option and a Saturday delivery service. These new options were introduced on February 1.

With effect from April 1, DPD is offering further express service options. These include recipient identity checks, shipment collection or exchange, and pro-active alerts per SMS.

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PIN Group buys southern German mail firm

Posted by | Apr 2, 2007 | |

Privately-owned mail company PIN Group, one of the leading competitors to Deutsche Post, has strengthened its presence in southern Germany with the acquisition of Briefnetz Süd (BNS) for an undisclosed sum.

BNS was created in 2005 through the merger of the delivery units of three large southern German newspaper groups, and currently delivers about 800,000 pieces of mail per day.

BNS will in future operate as the PIN Group’s regional distribution company in southern Germany. PIN Group already has branches in several cities in the region.

“The acquisition of Briefnetz Süd is an importance milestone in the completion of our full regional delivery network in southern and south-western Germany,” said PIN Group CEO Günter Thiel.

The PIN Group, which is majority-owned by three leading German publishing groups, has 7,000 employees, annual mail volumes of one billion pieces and turnover of EUR 350 million.

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Correos net profits down 30 percent

Posted by | Apr 2, 2007 | |

Correos reported that net profits dropped by 30 percent last year to EUR 142.2 million from EUR 204.4 million in 2005. A near 6 percent rise in personnel costs – due to salary increases and a rise in the number of permanent staff – reduced operating profit, although revenues rose 2.7 percent to EUR 2.025 billion from EUR 1.972 billion the year before. Total operating expenses rose 4.8 percent to EUR 1.85 billion.
Correos said it invested over EUR 230 million in new infrastructure, equipment, products and services in 2006 (EUR 143 million buying premises and land), and was planning to spend a further EUR 247.8 million in 2007, the fourth year of its 2004-2008, EUR 1 billion modernisation drive, which has seen it open 16 out of 17 new mail hubs nationwide.
“These results confirm the positive moves in recent years towards consolidating Correos’ leadership in the Spanish postal market,” the group said in a statement.
“Correos has gained economic strength, has advanced in managerial flexibility and efficiency, and has implemented an ambitious plan to incorporate information and communication technologies that allow a more agile response to new customer and client demands, offering a more competitive service in the face of full EU postal liberalisation,” it added.
The state-owned company made the contracts of over 4,000 temporary workers permanent at the end of last year and took on a further 669 new employees. It now has around 65,000 staff.

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