Tag: Asia

Japan Post Reports 442 B. Yen in Net Loss in April-September

Posted by | Dec 23, 2007 | |

Japan Post Holdings Co. said Wednesday its predecessor Japan Post incurred a net loss of 442 billion yen in April-September, compared with a net profit of 237.7 billion yen a year before.

A special loss of 1,419.5 billion yen, stemming from a change in accounting methods to report pension costs, weighed down on the bottom line.

But the net loss was far smaller than the company’s estimate of 852.7 billion yen thanks to robust earnings at “Yucho” postal savings and “Kampo” postal insurance operations.

Thanks to increases in investment returns, net profit at the Yucho division grew 20.5 pct to 372.6 billion yen, and that at the Kampo division increased 35.6 pct to 661.8 billion yen.

The mail service division suffered a net loss of 814.6 billion yen, against a year-before loss of 71.4 billion yen.

Recurring profit tripled to 1,207.8 billion yen.

Japan Post Holdings, which is wholly owned by the government, started operating on Oct. 1, the launch of the 10-year privatization process of Japan’s 136-year-old state-controlled postal service system.

The holding company controls four units–Japan Post Bank, Japan Post Insurance Co., Japan Post Service Co., which took over postal services, and Japan Post Network Co., which is in charge of operating Japan Post’s office network

1 USD = 112.059 JPY

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AIG Life Unit to market products through Japan Post

Posted by | Dec 21, 2007 | |

American International Group Inc. said its Japan life insurance subsidiary has been selected by Japan Post Insurance Co. Ltd. as a provider of life insurance products for corporate customers.

According to AIG, the Japan Post Holdings subsidiary selected ALICO Japan, the Japanese branch of AIG’s American Life Insurance Co., to market its products to small- an medium-sized businesses through Japan Post Insurance’s 1,000-member sales team. The sales force is part of a nationwide 81-branch network for Japan Post Insurance.

ALICO will be able to start selling its life products through the network beginning in June 2008, subject to regulatory approval.

Japan Post Insurance was privatized by the Japanese government in October this year. It is the largest life insurer in Japan, with assets of 113 trillion yen ($997 billion). The government-run postal system was broken into four units, wholly owned by a government holding company, with the Kampo and Yucho segments becoming the world’s largest life insurer and savings bank, respectively.

A month ago, Japan Post Network Co. chose Aflac Japan, a unit of U.S.-based supplemental insurer Aflac Inc., as the exclusive provider of cancer insurance for distribution through its roughly 24,000 post offices nationwide.

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Top China logistics firm eyes USD 2 bln IPO

Posted by | Dec 19, 2007 | |

China Post Logistics plans to raise over USD 2 billion in a Hong Kong and Shanghai stock market listing in 2008, sources said, amid mounting foreign competition in the booming sector.
The company, run by the state operator of the country’s huge postal system, is expected to raise at least USD 2 billion in total on both markets, though it was too early to tell how much it could rake in eventually, one of the sources familiar with the deal told Reuters.
“We do have a listing plan, but now we don’t have any timetable, maybe next year or later,” a China Post Logistics spokesman said. He declined further comment.
The state-owned logistics firm — established in 2003 with a 370 million yuan (USD 50 million) capital base — is set to balloon in size. Its parent has embarked on a plan to merge the firm with its own nationwide express mail service.
The spokesman said any listing timetable should depend on the progress of the merger, which is expected to finish in 2008.
Robust economic growth and surging foreign trade is propping up growth in China’s sprawling transportation and logistics industry.
The country’s logistics sector chalked up turnover of 53.7 trillion yuan in the first three quarters of 2007, up 25.5 percent, according to the China Logistics Information Centre.

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TNT's Asia Road Network expands into China

Posted by | Dec 19, 2007 | |

TNT announced the expansion of its Asia Road Network into China. TNT thus becomes the first integrator in Asia to operate an integrated road network linking over 120 cities in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indochina and China across 4,000 kilometres. The road network, which connects Singapore to Nanning, the capital city of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and Guangzhou, the capital of the Guangdong Province, will become fully operational early 2008 after completion of the last trials. The Asia Road Network connects to TNT’s international express network in China. Linking it to TNT’s Chinese domestic network will be a next step. This move will eventually allow TNT’s customers to benefit from seamless road connections in the region.

Introduced at the end of 2005, TNT’s Asia Road Network connects Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and China through the north-eastern border of Vietnam. Boasting 24×7 real-time Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) tracking of TNT’s container trucks, TNT has seen double-digit growth in overall volumes since the launch in 2005. The growth is largely driven by customers moving high-value goods such as electronic, automotive and computing components. The road service is two to three times faster than sea freight and offers customers, significant savings of up to 30 per cent compared to air freight.

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ANA in challenge to DHL and FedEx

Posted by | Dec 18, 2007 | |

All Nippon Airways plans to challenge DHL and Federal Express in Asia by joining forces with two Japanese transport groups to launch a door-to-door express parcel service.
The airline will take a 34 per cent stake in the venture, targeting business-to-business customers, according to a memorandum of understanding signed yesterday.
Nippon Express, the general transport company, and Kintetsu World Express will each take a 28 per cent share while other forwarding groups will take the remaining 10 per cent.
The venture is to begin operating next April. The name and total investment have not been decided.
The business will use a freight hub developed by ANA on Okinawa, close to mainland China. ANA will provide aircraft, while Nippon Express and Kintetsu will contribute ground-based logistics.
European and US delivery groups dominate the Asian express parcel market and are adding infrastructure. Germany’s DHL, which leads with about a one-third share, said last month it would build a USD 175m north-east Asian hub in Shanghai.
Second-ranked Federal Express opened a Chinese domestic hub this year and plans to shift its Asia-Pacific centre from Subic Bay in the Philippines to a larger facility in Guangzhou in 2009.
Satoru Aoyama, analyst at Fitch Ratings, said a challenge for the ANA venture would be to draw custom from outside the three partners’ roster of Japanese clients.
“To challenge the big companies they will need to invest heavily,” he said

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