Japan Post will boost collaboration with TPG NV to find ways to hasten international deliveries and tracking mail and parcel deliveries on the Internet, Nikkei English News reported, without citing anyone. The two companies may also establish a joint venture, build a network for delivering cargo by air in Asia and share capital, Nikkei said.
Read MoreBy the end of January Poczta Polska (PP) Polish Post will select three or four investment fund management firms (TFIs), which will receive exclusive rights to carry out their sales at post office branches. PP sent out tender invitations to all TFIs. “So far we have received one offer. There are many enquiries concerning more specifics on the part of TFIs, however. I think that by 19 January there will be many more offers,” said Mariusz Wnuk, the director of PP’s market and financial services department.
Read MoreManchester based AK Worthington began operating for PalletForce last week after leaving Palletways. MD Julian Richards says PalletForces shareholder membership structure was a key factor in the decision.
Members are allowed a greater involvement in the overall operation of the network and it also safeguards service levels. Our network volumes have decreased by 50% but we see it as investing ina a network which has great potential, he says.
Worthington also switched poscode areas from WA, which it served for Palletways, to M for PalletForce.
FedEx Corp.’s strength in next-day air deliveries and improvements in its ground business helped it post a more positive outlook for the quarter that includes the holiday shipping season than larger rival UPS Inc., analysts say.
Atlanta-based UPS warned Tuesday that its fourth-quarter earnings would fall short of previous estimates because of higher operating costs and weaker than expected domestic package volume from Christmas to New Year’s Day. FedEx, based in Memphis, Tenn., issued a statement saying its business remained strong over the holidays and it would meet its earnings goals.
“They’re tough competitors; one may be benefiting at the other’s expense,” Arthur Hatfield, an analyst with Morgan, Keegan & Company Inc. in Memphis, said Wednesday.
Read MoreUnited Parcel Service, the package delivery giant, yesterday cut its forecast for fourth-quarter earnings, blaming lower-than-expected volume and stormy weather during the peak Christmas period. The profit warning punctured the optimism that has surrounded the express delivery industry in recent months, which had benefited from a growing US economy and surging trade with Asia.
However, FedEx, the largest package delivery company after UPS, said it had experienced “a strong holiday season” and reaffirmed its existing profit guidance. UPS portrayed its problems as a short-term blip and reaffirmed its “positive” outlook for this year. UPS said fourth-quarter earnings-per-share were now expected to be 75-76 cents, down from an earlier guidance of 83-87 cents.
Spanish competition court Tribunal de Defensa de la Competencia (TDC) imposed 78.8 mln euro (USD103.3 mln) fines in 2004, a seven fold year-on-year increase, it was reported on January 12, 2005. Fines were imposed on 33 companies, three business associations, one professional organisation, and one fishermen association breaching the competition rules in Spain. The second largest fine of 15 mln euro (USD19.7 mln) was imposed on state-run postal services provider Sociedad Estatal Correos y Telegrafos SA (Correos).
Read MoreThe UAE will likely sell 40 per cent of its stake in Emirates Post Corporation by year-end, a company official said.
The organisation has already initiated discussions with the authorities regarding the partial sale of the government’s stake, said Director-General Abdullah Al Daboos. Emirates Post, which is capitalised at Dh100 million, has announced a record net profit of Dh123 million for 2004, an increase of 20 per cent over the previous year.
The company aims to improve its profit by another 12 per cent this year, said Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, UAE Minister of Communications and Chairman of Emirates Post.
“There is currently a line-up of postal services Egypt, Oman, Syria, etc for which Emirates Post is planning to help establish state-of-the-art IT systems,” said Al Daboos.
Read MoreGerman state development bank Kreditanstalt fuer Wiederaufbau (KfW) said it is to issue in Japan a 5-year Uridashi bond exchangeable into shares of Deutsche Post AG, worth at least 500 mln eur. The exact size of the bond depends on demand, but is expected to raise at least 500 mln eur, equivalent to 2.3 pct of Deutsche Post’s share capital or 25.4 mln shares, the KfW said in a statement.
It is the first foreign currency exchangeable bond ever to be offered by a non-Japanese issuer in Japan.
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