Brief country report: New Zealand – Main developments in the postal sector (2006-2008)
Brief country report: New Zealand – Main developments in the postal sector (2006-2008)
Read MoreTag: Australasia
Postal costs to rise – Australia Post
Despite an AUD 562 million profit last year, Australia Post will put up postal charges from next month.
The cost of posting a standard letter will rise to 55c from September 15, a 10 per cent rise.
But Australia Post argues it is the first for five years and is justified because of rising costs.
The Australian Consumer and Competition Commission has approved several increases including a 10c rise for large letters and greeting cards to AUD 1 and barcoded letters up from 95c to AUD 1.08.
Pensioners are not happy.
“It may be only a small rise, but it’s still 10 per cent after all,” said Charmaine Crowe, policy co-ordinator of the Combined Pensioners and Superannuants Association.
“Older people do use email, but . . . if they cannot afford a home computer then a large number still rely on sending letters.”
She said it strengthened the case for a rise in pension payments.
1 USD = 1.07044 CAD
Read MoreKiwibank declares NZD 36.8 million profits
Kiwibank has announced an after-tax profit of NZD 36.8 million for the 12 months ended 30 June 2008. Chief Executive Sam Knowles described the result as “very satisfactory in a challenging economic environment”.
The profit for the previous year (2007), has been restated under new accounting procedures adopted by banks, from NZD 25.5 million to NZD 30.9 million.
Mr Knowles said in the last year:
Loans and advances increased 57 per cent from NZD 3.6 billion to NZD 5.6 billion
Retail deposits increased 46 per cent from NZD 3.3 billion to NZD 4.8 billion
Mr Knowles said the continued growth in loans and deposits was an excellent result for the bank. “Our very strong deposit growth enabled the bank to be largely self-funded for residential and small business loans. This reduced the bank’s exposure to the more expensive and volatile wholesale markets and enabled us to maintain competitive home loan rates. In fact the bank continually led the market down in loan interest rates, but still maintained some of the best term deposit and online call rates available.”
The increase in the loan portfolio included the acquisition of the AMP home loan portfolio of NZD 700 million.
He singled out small to medium business banking as one of the key strengths in the continued improved performance by the bank. “We clearly have struck a chord with small businesses in New Zealand. They like our rates and they like our service. We are getting very solid growth in our business-banking portfolio, but at a level that we can ensure we maintain excellent service.”
1 USD = 1.42672 NZD
Read MoreToll underlying profits rise despite overall loss from Virgin sale
Toll Holdings announced a heavy full-year loss due to selling off its 63 pct stake in airline Virgin Blue but unveiled a strong rise in underlying profits.
In the year ending June 30, 2008, the group, which includes major express, parcel and courier businesses, made an overall net loss of AUD 695 million (EUR405 million). But this included a loss of AUD 952 million on discontinued operations, including a heavy AUD 1.2 billion writedown on the value of the Virgin Blue stake.
Toll announced in July that it would dispose of its holding in Virgin Blue by paying its shareholders a special dividend in the form of Virgin Blue shares. The group had previously said that the passenger airline was not a core business and that it wanted to focus on its global logistics activities while using the airline’s freight capacity under a long-term commercial agreement.
Net profits from continuing operations rose by 24pct to AUD258 million (EUR 150 million) on revenues up by 15.4pct to AUD5, 605 million (EUR 3,270 million). The operating profit (Ebit) was up by 18pct to AUD429 million (EUR 250 million). Toll managing director Paul Little commented: “We are pleased with the performance of our core operations, the integration of several new acquisitions and our balance sheet strength, which will all support our ongoing strategic development.”
In Australia, revenues grew to AUD4.42 billion thanks to 7.5pct organic growth and various acquisitions, including several express companies (Victorian Express, Couriers Australia and SkyNet). Operating profits were up 18pct at AUD347 million. The express operations, Toll noted, represent about 35pct of divisional revenue of AUD4.6 billion, or approximately AUD1.6 billion.
Toll IPEC, the road parcel express business, performed strongly during the year, benefiting from integrating services with group warehousing and distribution operations and utilising its comprehensive network to grow market share.
Looking ahead, Toll said that there is no deterioration in the Australian market yet, notwithstanding a number of challenging factors including increased interest rates, high fuel prices and currency volatility. In particular, it expected to benefit from more Australian companies looking to source directly from Asia.
Read MoreSony outsources all logistics to DHL (AUS)
Sony Australia will outsource the company’s logistics operation to a third party supplier, DHL Exel Supply Chain. The partnership with DHL follows a review prompted by the expiry of the lease of its warehouse facility at Chullora, NSW. The new arrangement will be effective from 19 February 2009.
Carl Rose, Managing Director of Sony Australia, said: “The alliance with DHL will provide Sony with greater flexibility in managing fluctuations in the demand for warehousing. As a business, it allows us to adapt to the needs of our retail partners across the country and reflect the seasonality of the consumer electronics market, variance in product sizes and weights, market conditions and import trends.
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