Year: 2008

Kuwait: Privatisation best way to update postal system

Posted by | Apr 30, 2008 | |

Assistant Undersecretary of the Kuwaiti Ministry of Communication for Postal Sector Saud Abdulaziz Al-As’ousi said here Wednesday his country was working hard to update its postal system and introduce the latest technologies. “Kuwait has developed a vision for privatizing the postal system under the supervision of the Ministry of Communication,” he revealed in statements to KUNA on the sidelines of the 16th meeting of the Arab Standing Committee on Postal Services. “Privatization is the best solution for the problems of the post sector,” he pointed out. “Kuwait has developed a plan to modernize its 63 post offices thoroughly in order to better serve the citizens,” said Al-As’ousi who leads Kuwait delegation to the meeting.

“The three-day meeting mulled ways to reorganize the postal services in the Arab countries and separate between the posts of legislation, organization, and reform and development. “It probed the plan to initiate a pan-Arab database including all postal reforms, legislations and controls,” he disclosed. “The meeting also explored ways to promote postal exchanges among the Arab countries, and reviewed the measures aimed to combat money laundering and narcotics through postal systems. “The conferees set up a panel to organize the celebrations marking the development of the Arab postal systems.

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Postal regulator needs to deliver the goods (UK)

Posted by | Apr 30, 2008 | |

Postcomm is seeking a new Chief Executive for November, when Sarah Chambers, ends her four-year term.

But what sort of job will the successful applicant take over? I hear whispers of some sort of reorganisation that is under consideration to create a “super-regulator” to transfer some of Postcomm’s responsibilities across to Ofcom, which at present oversees only the Royal Mail’s broadband activities.

“This is entirely a matter for the Government,” Ofcom insists.

Postcomm says that there is no change to the job specifications as they are advertised, which call for “a forward-thinking CEO … at a time when the postal market is undergoing profound change”. My informant insists whoever gets the top Postcomm job “is not going to be head-to-head with Allan Leighton [the Royal Mail chairman].”

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CWU – Postal regulation crippling Royal Mail (UK)

Posted by | Apr 30, 2008 | |

The Communication Workers Union which represents most postal workers at Royal Mail, has responded to Postcomm’s Strategy Review for further changes to the UK postal market.

The CWU, which has been a consistent critic of the liberalisation of the UK postal market, says that deregulation in the UK was too soon and that Postcomm has put the pursuit of competition ahead of safeguarding the USO.

The union said it was also strongly opposed to any ownership separation of Royal Mail’s activities. The CWU did not agree such separation has been successful in other regulated industries and did not see a need for greater accounting transparency and that moves to split Royal Mail should not be at the expense of an efficient and integrated Royal Mail.

It accused Postcomm of misjudging the postal market and that current declining mail volumes were not predicted in the last Price Control, resulting in significantly lower than anticipated profit levels. On downstream access, the CWU said that volumes had grown faster than forecast leaving Royal Mail struggling financially and calling for a reduction in the scope of the USO and an increase in stamp prices. It said that cost-reflective pricing measures had become necessary, resulting in requests for unpopular and divisive pricing structures such as zonal pricing. It called for a wider debate about the kind of postal service customers want before such measures are imposed.

The CWU was highly critical of Postcomm’s proposed erosion of the minimum standards required of new entrants under the licensing framework, saying it would leave customers with insufficient protections in place. The union called on the introduction of a mandatory publication of directly comparable performance data introduced as a licence condition for all postal operators, saying it would address the current unequal treatment of Royal Mail in terms of the monitoring of standards and enable customers to make informed choices in the market.

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SingPost records net profit growth of 6.8pct to SGD149M

Posted by | Apr 30, 2008 | |

Singapore Post Limited (“SingPost”) announced its unaudited results for the fourth quarter and financial year ended 31 March 2008.

For FY2007/08, the Group’s revenue increased by 8.4pct from SGD436.0 million to
SGD 472.6 million. All business segments showed an improvement in performance for the full year.

♦ Mail revenue grew by 7.9pct from SGD338.4 million to SGD365.3 million, underpinned by higher mail volumes and price adjustments. Revenue was boosted with the growth in direct mail which saw a 16.4pct increase in traffic as well as higher traffic in domestic and international mail. DMrocket, a one-stop direct mail centre, was launched during the year, fuelling greater interest in direct mail as a cost-effective means for businesses to reach out to their customers. During the year, SingPost’s hybrid mail business expanded into Hong Kong and Thailand.
♦ Logistics revenue rose by 6.7pct from SGD64.3 million to SGD68.6 million, due to higher contributions from Speedpost, vPOST online shopping and shipping transactions, and warehousing, fulfillment and distribution. A new service Speedpost Centre was launched to cater to retail and corporate customers.
♦ Retail recorded a 10.8pct increase in revenue from SGD55.6 million to SGD61.6 million, as increased contributions from financial services and retail products offset the decline in agency and bill presentment services. In FY2007/08, SingPost collaborated with new partners to introduce a variety of financial products and valueadded services. These included two new remittance services – Visa Money
Transfer and Cashome to Indonesia – with Visa and Bank Negara Indonesia respectively, and an investment fund with Prudential Asset Management. It also started offering more value-added services including five key Immigration and Customs Authority (ICA) e-services. SingPost was also the ticketing agent for major events such as the F1 Grand Prix, Chingay Festival and Singapore Air Show. Highvalue products were also offered via its shop@POST catalogue.
1.00 SGD = 0.728948 USD

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UPS appoints two key posts in Europe

Posted by | Apr 30, 2008 | |

Romaine Seguin, a 25-year veteran of UPS who has been leading the company’s South Europe District, has been promoted to Vice President of Operations for UPS’s entire Europe Region. In her new role, Seguin will be responsible for small package operations in 47 countries and territories throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Cindy Miller, a 20-year veteran of UPS who headed the Metro Chicago District, has been named Vice President of Operations for the company’s South Europe District. In her new role, Miller will be responsible for small package operations throughout Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, the Balkans, the Middle East and Africa.

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DX Group – Royal Mail VAT advantage stifles competition (UK)

Posted by | Apr 30, 2008 | |

The DX Group has reminded Postcomm that the VAT exemption applied to Royal Mail is, in their view, continuing to stifle competition.

In response to Postcomm’s Strategy Review, Michael MacClancy, Head of Regulation at DX said:

“Royal Mail’s VAT exemption will continue to tip the playing field against end to-end entrants for the foreseeable future. The VAT exemption extends to positive discrimination in favour of so-called access competition over end-to-end competition. If consolidators such as TNT and UK Mail use Royal Mail for final delivery then they can take advantage of the recently introduced agency agreements to minimise VAT liability for their customers. If they use another operator (such as DX) they must charge VAT.”

“The VAT exemption not only places entrants at a disadvantage in comparison with Royal Mail, it also gives TNT and UK Mail an advantage in comparison with other operators. Furthermore, as we have argued previously, access is a very limited form of competition with limited economic benefits. If Postcomm really does wish to create the right conditions to enable a further withdrawal of sector specific regulation it will have to find a way of promoting end-to-end competition that will apply pressure along the whole of Royal Mail’s value chain.”

“Postcomm should avoid further tilting of the market towards the access model. We note that there are substantial differences between the postal markets of the UK and USA, not least of which are the statutory monopoly over delivery enjoyed by USPS and a workshare pricing mechanism that appears to leave USPS with a considerably higher proportion of the revenue than the UK equivalent.”

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Canada E-Commerce Growing Quickly

Posted by | Apr 30, 2008 | |

Online sales increased at a double-digit pace for the sixth consecutive year in 2007, according to Statistics Canada. Total private and public sector Internet sales hit an estimated C$62.7 billion ($58.6 billion), up 26% from 2006.

Despite the continued strong growth, e-commerce still represents a relatively small fraction of total economic activity, at about 2% of total operating revenue.

Statistics Canada said that only about 8% of Canadian private sector companies sell goods and services online.

In the private sector, business-to-business sales accounted for 62% of online sales in 2007, down from 68% in 2006. The proportion of online business-to-consumer sales climbed from 32% to 38%.

B2C e-commerce sales therefore reached C$23.8 billion ($22.2 billion), or 38% of C$62.7 billion. That is almost 50% higher than eMarketer’s November 2007 estimate. eMarketer counts online travel, tickets and digital downloads as services, not products, and thus excludes them from its estimate.

It is estimated that customers outside Canada generated almost one out of every five dollars (19%) in online sales in the private sector, similar to the last two years.

While Canadian consumers are comfortable purchasing travel, media products, and computer hardware and software online, they tend to shy away from high-touch categories such as apparel and home furnishings. Instead, they head to one of their excellent shopping malls. A common explanation for this tendency is that, unlike Americans, Canadians lack a catalog tradition and have not been conditioned to shop remotely.

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Deutsche Post and the services trade union reach agreement

Posted by | Apr 30, 2008 | |

Deutsche Post and the services trade union Ver.di reached an agreement today in their collective-bargaining negotiations for about 130,000 company employees. Both parties agreed on an extended job security pact, a pay increase for workers covered by the collective-bargaining agreement and additional weekly working time.

The Group’s employees covered by the agreement will receive a one-time payment of 200 euros as well as a 4 percent raise that takes effect on Nov. 1, 2008. Ver.di had originally demanded 7 percent. In addition, the workers will receive a 3 percent raise in December 2009. This ensures planning security for more than two years. The working week for workers covered by the agreement will remain at 38.5 hours.

In return, Deutsche Post won an agreement to reduce paid breaks, i.e., employees will work about 50 minutes more each week for the wages set by the bargaining agreement. Ver.di’s original demand for 10 additional days to shorten the total working time – or vacation days – has been dropped.

The working week of Deutsche Post’s civil servants will remain at 38.5 hours – as opposed to rules applying to other federal civil servants. This agreement is still subject to approval by the German finance minister. Paid breaks for this employee group will be reduced as well, meaning that the previously mentioned additional work on top of the 38.5 workweek will take effect.

The agreement, which is still subject to approval by Ver.di’s collective-bargaining commission, will run through June 30, 2010.

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