Majestic Wine Warehouses has launched a nationwide delivery service, called Gift Solutions, using Amtrak’s specialist wine service.
Majestic has only made deliveries in-house to addresses near its shops, which it will continue to do. Distribution will be from Majestic’s centre in Enfield to destinations across the UK.
Deutsche Post on Wednesday upped earnings guidance after closing its GBP3.8bn (USD4.5bn) deal with UK logistics group, Exel. The company now expects operating profit to reach EUR3.7bn compared to earlier guidance of EUR3.6bn. The company is set to benefit from reduced costs for health care as a result of new legislation relating to health insurance which will reduce its costs by about EUR70m a year.
“As a one-time effect in 2005 the reduction in our annual obligation to fund future shortfalls led to a reversal of health care provision with a positive earnings before interest and tax impact of of about EUR1bn.”
But Deutsche Post added that the impact would be offset by EUR0.7bn of new provisions for new “optimisation measures”, such as the creation of a new global corporate services division, creating a net benefit of about EUR0.3bn.
Read MoreSwiss logistics company Panalpina Welttransport (Holding) AG is not interested in the takeover of the Logistics division of Dutch mail and logisticscompany TNT NV, Panalpina spokesman Martin Spohn said on December 14, 2005. We are not considering such large acquisition, which is not in line with our strategy to take over small specialised companies, Spohn added. TNT announced its intention to divest the Logistics division earlier in December 2005. The division generates an annual revenue of 3.4 bln euro (USD3.977 bln). Swiss logistics company Kuehne & Nagel International has recently said, a large acquisition was improbable in the near future because the company was engaged with the integration of a large acquisition in France.
Read MoreThe January freeing of the postal services market will not cause an increase in competition. Courier companies are giving up the fight over the letter delivery market. As of 1 January 2006, the Poczta Polska national postal service monopoly will be further limited. The weight of parcels reserved for it will fall from 350 to 50 grams. However, this will not cause a turnaround on the postal services market. Advances in IT mean letters are becoming less popular. Instead, companies choose the Internet as a means of sending invoices and other business-related documentation. It is possible that even 2009’s full market liberalisation will not tempt the courier companies: by that time, new and safer forms of electronic communication may have been developed. Courier companies believe that the new liberalisation only increases their safety margin.
Read MoreDeutsche Post World Net today completed the acquisition of U.K. logistics company Exel plc, becoming the global No. 1 in air freight, ocean freight and contract logistics. Just one month after Exel’s shareholders welcomed the offer, the company’s equity capital was transferred in its entirety to Deutsche Post World Net. The combination of the two companies creates a group with some 500,000 people and about 55 billion euros in annual sales. “This acquisition marks a historic step for Deutsche Post World Net. By bringing together these two powerful, high-quality organizations, we are creating the largest logistics company in the world. Our Group will set the future pace in the forwarding and supply chain industries, enabling us to serve even better the global needs of our customers,” said Deutsche Post Chief Executive Officer Klaus Zumwinkel. “The transaction has been carried out in a very positive and constructive atmosphere. Within very short time, our two management teams have developed a deep understanding and mutual trust. Our top priority now is to combine DHL Logistics and Exel in a rapid and efficient manner.”
Read MoreUPS has just been ranked No. 4 in the United States for best reputation. The latest Harris Interactive corporate reputation study also cited UPS for excellent customer service compared to its peers and ranked it No. 2 overall for “highest trust” in the event of a service problem. The Harris Interactive survey, published last week in The Wall Street Journal, ranked UPS No. 4 overall behind Johnson & Johnson, Coca-Cola and Google. Harris Interactive asked more than 19,500 consumers to rate companies on a list of 20 attributes in six key dimensions.
Read MoreDutch postal services company Sort and Deliver (Sandd) has won the right on an order with the Dutch Government to deliver part of its mail for a period of three years from 2006, the Dutch Finance Ministry said on December 13, 2005.
This includes 25 million units of addressed bulk mail a year. Each unit is to be delivered within a period of four days.
Read MoreDeutsche Post AG said its full year EBIT will reach at least 3.7 bln eur, up from its earlier 3.6 bln eur forecast because of a reduction in its health care provisions. It said that the reversal of these provisions will have a positive impact of 1.0 bln eur on this year’s EBIT result. However, this impact will be partially offset by 0.7 bln eur in new provisions relating to unspecified ‘optimisation measures’ and the creation of a new global corporate services divisions. In total, these effects will have a positive impact of 0.3 bln eur.
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