Year: 2005

Pitney Bowes delivers . . . showing Royal Mail the route

Posted by | Dec 4, 2005 | |

Even Sir George Bains review of the Royal Mail seems to have got lost in the post. Widely tipped to come at the end of November, the Department of Trade and Industry says the former head of the London Business School will now not reveal his views on the future of the Royal Mail. Delivery is everything and the Government-sponsored research will, however, begin to surface in various policies just as the Royal Mail faces the toughest challenge in its 345-year history. On 1 January it loses its monopoly as part of cross-European liberalisation which will open the market to full competition. Firms such as Pitney Bowes, with a market value of USD9.62bn (GBP5.56bn, E8.20bn), will be looking for more opportunities in the British market along with Frances Neopost, and Francotyp-Postalia of Germany. Pitney Bowes is a good example of an old-fashioned company that has transformed its business to capitalise on the diverse ways we receive our messages. It is more commonly associated with inventing the franking machine and has now diversified into data management, electronic billing and commercial printing.

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TNT Express sees revenues slowing in 2005

Posted by | Dec 2, 2005 | |

Delivery services provider TNT Express Worldwide Philippines, Inc. yesterday said it expects revenues this year to grow by 28percent, slower than the 40percent revenue growth it posted last year.

TNT Express country general Manager Jose Luis R. Salas said revenue growth will slow this year due largely to the decision of one of its major clients, Acer Philippines, Inc., to transfer its manufacturing operation to China.

“Revenue growth for the year is expected to soften on account of Acer’s decision to transfer to China,” Mr. Salas told reporters yesterday in a briefing in Makati City.

He said growth for 2005 is expected to come from its high-end special services business as well as its courier and logistics operations.

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Dutch Selekt Mail to buy Postmij

Posted by | Dec 2, 2005 | |

Netherlands-based postal services company Selekt Mail Nederland, a joint venture company of Dutch publishing group Wegener and German postal services company Deutsche Post AG, has agreed to buy the activities of local sector company Postmij, Selekt Mail said on December 1, 2005. The takeover includes the use of the central depot and the involved employees, precisely some 200 postmen and about six full-time employees. Reportedly, Selekt Mail is a discounter on the liberalised part of the Dutch postal delivery market. The company competes mainly with local market leader TPG Post and aims at a 20 pct share of the domestic postal market. Through the takeover of Postmij, Selekt Mail is a step closer to achieve its objective, Selekt Mail director, John Kuiper, said.

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French banks claim Banque Postale unfair

Posted by | Dec 2, 2005 | |

The creation of a state-owned postal bank in France moved a step closer yesterday despite a hostile reception from the country’s bigg-est listed banks, which filed a complaint to the European Commission claiming unfair competition.

La Banque Postale, a subsidiary of the national post office, is due to be created on January 1, after winning approval from the French regulator on Wednesday night. With 28m clients, Euros 4.3bn (Dollars 5bn) of revenues, and 17,000 retail outlets, it will increase fierce competition in French banking.

Within minutes of the regulator giving its green light, four of France’s biggest banks, Societe Generale, BNP Paribas, Banque Populaire and Credit Agricole, lodged an appeal to the Brussels competition authority, asking it to block the postal bank’s creation.

The Commission said yesterday it would announce before Christmas whether it would approve the creation of La Banque Postale or open an inquiry.

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Donovan slams MPs attack on UK Postwatch as ‘nonsense’

Posted by | Dec 2, 2005 | |

Postwatch North chairman and industry stalwart Judith Donovan has hit back at a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report which claims the watchdog is “feeble”, branding the findings “nonsense”. The PAC, made up of MPs, this week published its report into Postwatch and Energywatch, highlighting that huge numbers of complaints relating to lost mail and wrong energy bills are still flooding in, five years after the groups were established. But Donovan counters: “It makes you wonder if it’s writing about the same organisation. To say we don’t have grass-roots support is nonsense. We’ve got nine regional offices. You couldn’t get more grass- roots than that. As for a rise in complaints, we’re very disappointed that the committee hasn’t remembered our briefing last January. Of course we’ve had more complaints. At that time Royal Mail was falling apart.”
She continues: “The committee has also failed to recognise our work in getting Royal Mail to revise its pricing in proportion scheme.”

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FedEx ups ground, home delivery rates by avg of 3.9%

Posted by | Dec 2, 2005 | |

FedEx Corp. after Friday’s closing bell said it’s increasing the standard rates for FedEx Ground and FedEx Home Delivery by an average of 3.9% starting Jan. 2. This increase is in addition to other changes to FedEx Express, FedEx Ground and FedEx Home surcharges, which will also become effective Jan. 2. Some of the other changes include FedEx Express and FedEx Ground charging an additional 5 cents a package for delivering to commercial locations in certain zip codes, and an additional 10 cents a package for delivering to residential locations.

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UK Parcelforce has big unfair advantage, says TNT boss

Posted by | Dec 2, 2005 | |

Parcelforce has an unfair advantage and should be privatised, the managing director of rival TNT Express Services has claimed. Tom Bell attacked the Royal Mail’s parcel delivery business claiming its VAT exemption was unfair and discriminatory. “It’s not just companies such as mine which are being discriminated against. The taxpayer is losing out because Parcelforce should be paying VAT and those taxes could be used for the greater good of the country,” Mr Bell said. Atherstone-based TNT said the comments echoed sentiments from think-tank The Institute of Economic Affairs. Last year, the IEA said there was no case for Parcelforce to remain in Government ownership and that it should be privatised, even if it led to it going out of business. Mr Bell said: “Parcelforce is subsidised by the Government.

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Pos Malaysia expands global service network

Posted by | Dec 2, 2005 | |

PosLaju, the national courier arm of Pos Malaysia Bhd, has embarked on an exercise to expand its global service network to 30 new lanes. This brought its total international delivery service destinations to 92 countries across the globe, said Pos Malaysia &Services (POSHB) in a statement today. Pos Malaysia is a wholly-owned subsidiary of POSHB. Delivery to the 30 new destinations under PosLaju’s international courier services, also known as the Expedited Mail Services (EMS), will take effect on Jan 1, 2006. POSHB said delivery of documents and parcels will be priced on average at 22 percent and 43 percent lower respectively compared to other international courier service providers.

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