Swiss postal carrier Die Post AG increased its net profit by 10.5 pct year-on-year to 421 mln Swiss francs (USD330.7 mln/271.1 mln euro) in the first half of 2005, but said it expected a weaker second half and projected an annual decline in full-year net profit. Full-2004 net profit, adjusted to meet the amended IAS 39 accounting standards, was record-high 830 mln francs ($651.9 mln/534.4 mln euro).
Read MoreLocal companies Factor I.N. and Easypay have applied before Bulgaria’s Communications Regulation Commission (CRC) for licences to operate as providers of postal money order services. Factor I.N. is 52%-owned by Iliyan Naskov, a former parliamentary secretary of the regional development minister, with 40% held by Kiril Dobrev, son of former interior minister Nikolai Dobrev.
Easypay is a subsidiary of software firm Datamax. The company intends to partner with Bulgarian Posts and offer services through the office of the state-owned postal operator, said Easypay manager Bozhidar Grigorov. The company will seek partnerships with banks and commercial chains as well, said the official.
Hand Held Products, the world’s leading supplier of image-based data capture systems, has signed a pan-European agreement with DPD (Deutscher Paket Dienst GmbH & Co KG), a subsidiary of La Poste and part of the GeoPost group. Under the new agreement, which runs until 2010, Hand Held Products will provide support and maintenance services on over 6,000 Dolphin 9500 mobile computers. The Dolphins are being used in DPD’s depots and delivery trucks in Europe. The two companies had already signed an agreement earlier this year, when DPD installed an automated delivery scan system based around the Dolphins.
Read MoreInterview with Allan Leighton
Read MoreTNT Logistics, a unit of Dutch mail, express and logistics company TNT, plans to grow by between 20 pct and 25 pct in the next five years in Brazil, according to the company’s global chief of marketing and business development, Pierre Girardin. According to Girardin, Brazilian companies need to invest in technology to reduce their spending on logistics. Brazilian companies spent an average between 10 pct and 12 pct of the gross domestic product (GDP) on logistics, compared with between 8.0 pct and 10 pct of GDP in the United States and Europe.
Read MoreDeutsche Post World Net said its DHL express business in the U.S. was improving as a result of better management, while growth in Asia and emerging markets remained strong. John Mullen, a joint chief executive of the company’s express division DHL, told an analyst conference that the Bonn-based mail and logistics company expected its U.S. DHL business to break even in the fourth quarter of next year. For 2005, the company reiterated that DHL expects a loss of EUR300 million in the U.S. Despite difficulties and strong competition from United Parcel Service and FedEx, DHL said the U.S. business was seeing improvements in service and quality. DHL said it would work to streamline operations by focusing on cost control, productivity and revenue improvements. “The second-half financial targets for the U.S. are ambitious but achievable,” Mullen said in the business update.
Read MoreFerrovial yesterday agreed to buy Swissport International for Euros 646m (Dollars 790m), expanding the Spanish construction and logistic group’s aviation business into passenger and cargo handling. Swissport, one of the world’s largest independent airport handling groups, was sold by Candover, the private equity group that bought the business from bankrupt Swiss flag carrier Swissair in 2002 for Euros 393m. Candover, which briefly considered a flotation of Swissport, generated a 2.6 times return on its equity investment. Ferrovial already manages four airports, and said the global handling business was growing at 5 per cent a year, with annual revenues of Euros 26bn. Ferrovial said the Swissport purchase was “another step in the company’s internationalisation strategy”, and will also diversify its business lines. “Entering the handling business is consistent with our strategy of growth in services and complements our activities in urban services, facility management and infrastructure maintenance,” said Inigo Meiras, managing director of the services division.
Read MoreTNT Express is set to expand its Middle East Road Network with the addition of five new routes next year. The carrier has embarked on an aggressive expansion starting with its Day Definite service, which guarantees customers the exact number of days to delivery. Steve Barrett, TNT’s newly-promoted MERN operations manager said: ‘The road network is the backbone of TNT’s regional strategy and we plan to launch routes linking the Gulf countries with the wider Middle East and Europe next year. ‘We also have excellent relationships with authorities at border points and a good understanding of import-export regulations throughout the region.
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