Tag: Asia

Japan Post saw net profit in its mail and parcel service in fiscal 2005 fall 99 pct from the previous year to 200 million yen, informed sources said Monday.
The mail and parcel service experienced a fall in business volume for the fourth straight year due to lower demand reflecting the spread of the Internet, the sources said. In addition, the segment’s personnel costs increased in the year to March after the public company boosted wages to part-time workers. Heavy computer system development costs to prepare for the privatization, slated to begin in October 2007, also weighed on its earnings.

Japan Post said Friday the number of parcels delivered by the public enterprise under its “Yu-Pack” service in fiscal 2005 totaled 246.6 million, up 14.9 pct from the previous year, hitting a record high for the second consecutive year. Increases in the number of users from department stores and mail-order houses contributed to the increase, along with the growth in the number of convenience stores that accept Yu-Pack parcels as agents, Japan Post said. Its booklet parcels for magazines and brochures jumped 50.5 pct to 1,828.3 million.

Japan Post said Friday it has punished 34 of its officials for causing a 2.7 billion yen loss with an unfair bulk mail service deal at the Nagaoka post office in Niigata Prefecture. In addition to the punishments, including salary cuts and admonitory warnings, Japan Post plans to file damages suits against some of the officials and a direct mail agency involved in the deal. The Nagaoka office had collected only 2.6 billion yen of 5.3 billion yen in postage for 120 million pieces of mail from the Tokyo-based direct mail agency during the 19 months between June 2002 and December 2003, Japan Post said. The office gave preferential treatment to the agency in violation of internal regulations for accepting such mail under the separate postage payment system.