Year: 2008

UPU: A good year for the Quality of Service Fund (QSF)

Posted by | Jan 4, 2008 | |

In 2007, the Quality of Service Fund (QSF) financed 75 projects, totalling 15.8 million USD, in more than 50 countries. This was the first time that the Fund, created in 2001, actually spent more money than it received. At its last meeting, in October, the QSF Board of Trustees adopted projects in China (system for translating and improving the delivery of international mail), Bangladesh (installation of X-ray detectors to improve mail security), Romania (mobile offices set up in rural areas) and other countries. A total of 21 very diverse projects amounting to 8.4 million USD were approved recently, including a regional project that will enable nine Latin American countries to set up a cost accounting programme.

The Board of Trustees also awarded certificates to Belarus, El Salvador, Fiji, Jordan, Kenya, Mozambique, Trinidad and Tobago and Uganda for achieving their QSF project objectives and improving postal service quality in their countries.

The QSF was created by the UPU to finance projects aimed at improving postal service quality in developing countries. All member countries, except for the least developed countries, contribute to the Fund through an increase in terminal dues payments.

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FedEx Corp. Issues Update on Status of Tentative IRS Assessment Regarding Worker Classification at FedEx Ground

Posted by | Jan 3, 2008 | |

FedEx Corp. today announced that, in response to a tentative assessment by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on December 20, 2007 regarding the classification of owner-operators at FedEx Ground, the Company is preparing to meet with the IRS audit team to review their tentative assessment and to provide an initial response. It is expected that the meeting will occur in the spring of 2008 and that a final resolution of this matter will not occur for some time. The Company notes that some reporting concerning this matter has been inaccurate.

As disclosed in the Companys second quarter Form 10-Q filed on December 21, 2007, the IRS has tentatively concluded, subject to further discussion with the Company, that FedEx Grounds pick-up-and-delivery owner-operators should be reclassified as employees for federal employment tax purposes. The IRS has indicated that it anticipates assessing tax and penalties of USD 319 million plus interest for 2002. Substantially all of the IRSs tentative assessment relates to employment and withholding taxes for the 2002 calendar year and, if paid by the Company, would be fully deductible. Similar issues are under audit by the IRS for calendar years 2004 through 2006.

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Empost plans IPO in second half of '08

Posted by | Jan 3, 2008 | |

State-owned Emirates Post (Empost) plans to sell up to 40 per cent stake to the public in the second half of 2008, a cabinet minister said in remarks published in al-Khaleej daily on Sunday.

The company had appointed advisors to complete a valuation of the its five divisions before the initial public offering, said Minister of Governmental Sector Development Sultan al-Mansouri, according to al-Khaleej.

The valuation would not be less than Dh3 billion (USD 816.8 million), Emirates Business quoted Empost Director-General Abdulla al-Daboos as saying last month.

Empost planned to use the money it raises to acquire logistics companies, financial services firms specialised in remittances and express mail companies in Asia, al-Daboos had said in 2006.

Mansouri, also chairman of the supreme committee for the supervision of the UAE telecom sector, confirmed that the country planned to reduce the amount of royalties the country’s two telecom firms pay to the government.

He did not give details. State-controlled Emirates Telecommunications Corp and du pay 50 per cent of annual profit to the federal government.

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Commercialising postal delivery of mail and cargo

Posted by | Jan 3, 2008 | |

The Indian Postal Department, Tamil Nadu, is seriously exploring the commercial and technical viability of starting airport-to-airport mail and cargo transport via road to address the international mail delivery across India.

According to Indira Krishnakumar, Chief Post Master General, Tamil Nadu, the idea was to connect airports and take care of collection, delivery of mail and cargo between airports.

The Postal Department already has a logistic post service connecting several cities with Chennai.

“We have many surface logistic post services, which operate on a daily basis, like Chennai-Bangalore, Chennai- Madurai and Chennai-Coimbatore. In 2006, we earned a revenue of more than Rs 52 lakh through this service and earned Rs 72 lakh till this November,” said T Murthy, Post Master General, Business Development and Marketing.

The computerisation works of post offices across Tamil Nadu are also progressing.

“We have already computerised all head post offices in the State in the first phase. The second phase, covering computerisation of all sub-post offices, will be completed in another two years. The sub-post offices are classified into three categories and the computerisation works of category A have been finished,” K Balasubramaniam, Director, Technology, India Post, said. 1 USD = 39.4138 INR

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Mail volumes to continue slide (UK)

Posted by | Jan 3, 2008 | |

Only 37 per cent of businesses predict their mail volumes will increase over the next five years, a 13 per cent decrease from predictions made last year, according to a Postcomm study.

Postcomm’s annual Business Customer Survey among over 1,800 businesses reveals that while in 2006 50 per cent of businesses believed there would be an increase in mail volumes over the next five years, in 2007 only 37 per cent believed mail volumes would rise.

Over 40 per cent predicted the volumes would plateau, while 11 per cent of businesses predict a decrease in their mail volumes over the next five years. Financial services firms remain the biggest mailers, but use of mail in sectors such as charities, and health are set to increase.

One in five businesses have explored alternatives to using mail and have switched to other media, such as email, in the past 12 months.

The survey shows that Royal Mail continues to be the main service provider to business customers, serving 100 per cent of firms surveyed. Even customers which have moved some mail to alternative providers continue to use Royal Mail for most of their mail. Overall, 97 per cent of mail across the total sample was sent via Royal Mail. While perceptions of service quality have improved across Royal Mail and the alternative operators.

The research also reveals that a larger number of small businesses are beginning to benefit from competition, but much more needs to be done before small firms can experience the full benefits that larger mailers have seen since the market was opened.

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NIPOST Reads Riot Act to Unregistered Courier Firms

Posted by | Jan 3, 2008 | |

Post Master General and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST), Alhaji Ibrahim Mori Baba, said the Agency would continue to clamp down on unregistered courier companies.

Baba stated this during the opening of the new office complex of Bowill Errands Limited in Lagos.

Debunking the claim that the parastatal had been ‘soft’ on unlicenced courier operators, the Post Master General, represented by Mr Julius Anjorin of the Courier Regulatory Department, said NIPOST had always been on the trail of illegal courier operators.

According to him, the issue at stake here is that in pursuing these unlicenced operators, we have to strictly follow laid down guidelines, so that we won’t be faced with unwarranted litigations. We have to be very careful in our ‘war’ against them, so that we won’t have series of litigations in our hands.

NIPOST’s claim, saying “the end of illegal courier firms was near,” adding that most of the companies who patronise do so out of ignorance.

Oladapo, who is also General Secretary of Association of Nigeria Courier Operators said: “There is no proliferation of courier companies. “The Nigerian economy, given its size, population and volume of economic activities can still accommodate more courier companies,” he said, and applauded the economic reform policies of former president Olusegun Obasanjo.

“The financial sector reform has had tremendous impact on the economy, especially the recapitalisation of the banks. Banks now have enough funds and because they must manage their liquidity with profitability, they can’t just keep this funds idle.

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Deutsche Post expects sales decline in US express operations

Posted by | Jan 3, 2008 | |

Deutsche Post World Net AG is increasingly facing the impact of the US subprime crisis on the US economy in its express operations, Chief Executive Klaus Zumwinkel told Capital magazine in an interview to be published tomorrow.

He said he sees sales declining by a one-digit percentage, to which Deutsche Post will react by cutting costs and capacities.

Deutsche Post in November said it no longer expects to return to profitability in its US express operations by the end of 2009, as previously expected, but did not give a new date. It has posted unspecified losses since it entered the US express market in 2004.

Separately, Zumwinkel reiterated the German mail services company could sell off its banking unit Deutsche Postbank AG. ‘During the current year, we will consider how to proceed with Postbank,’ he said.

He said he preferred a German buyer for the bank.

‘Postbank is perfectly suited as an inexpensive and efficient platform on which the German capital market can advance,’ he said.

Meanwhile, Postbank could face further losses due to the US subprime woes, if the crisis spills over to other investment types such as equities, Zumwinkel said.

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How Poste Italiane is truly delivering

Posted by | Jan 3, 2008 | |

Interviewed in his Rome office, Mr Sarmi cites figures showing that in its European sector, PI, largely because of its financial services divisions, has the highest earnings before interest and tax rate of 16 per cent, compared with TNT’s 12.7 per cent, and minus 0.1 per cent for the UK’s Royal Mail.

Fortune magazine ranked PI in the top 10 “most- admired companies in the world” for logistics, while Cisco in 2007 gave the Italians the “best corporate IP network” award this year, describing them as “the European leader for hybrid electronic mail and document processing”.

In terms of volume of transactions, PI’s Banco Posta in effect ranks as the number one retail bank in Italy although it is still waiting for its licence from the treasury.

It holds EUR 300bn (USD 441bn) in savings. The life assurance division ranks number two or three, says Mr Sarmi, who has also just launched a mobile phone service that aims to attract 2m users in three years.

While Royal Mail plans to close 2,500 branches across the UK over the next 18 months, PI – which has roughly the same number, about 14,000 – added 100 more this year.

Mr Sarmi, who joined PI in 2002, wants liberalisation as soon as possible, but he says the French and Italian governments want the target date put back from 2009 to 2011. The UK market was liberalised in 2006.

Privatisation remains the Italian government’s stated goal, but Mr Sarmi sees no decision on the horizon.

Investment banks have valued the company at EUR 14bn to EUR 15bn.

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