Tag: Australia Post

Postal costs to rise – Australia Post

Posted by | Aug 31, 2008 | |

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

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ACCC clears 5c postage stamp price hike

Posted by | Jul 31, 2008 | |

The consumer watchdog has cleared the way for Australia Post to seek government approval for a five cent increase in the cost of a basic postage stamp.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) says is not objecting to the postal monopoly’s plan to charge 55 cents from September 15.

“Because the proposed price increases do not involve Australia Post over-recovering the costs of providing … letter services,” commission chairman Graeme Samuel said.

But Australia Post’s proposal did not provide “sufficient certainty” to satisfy customers.

“Therefore, in its decision, the ACCC has established a framework for future price notifications that will encourage Australia Post to continue to reduce costs, improve productivity, and provide more certainty for customers,” Mr Samuel said.

The last time Australia Post increased the cost of the basic postage stamp was in 2003.

It will need approval from the federal government before implementing the increase.

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International Freight Industry to shift from air transport to sea and rail

Posted by | Jul 15, 2008 | |

Australia Post’s Managing Director, Graeme John, foresees cutbacks on flights and a shift towards sea and rail deliveries with regard to the annual meeting of the Kahala Posts Group last week.

John said that growth in international freight from consumer goods such as electronics had been managed on a “just in time” basis, with air delivery preferred to other means of transport due to its speed advantage. But that approach was no longer viable as global warming would have an enormous influence on the postal industry worldwide increasing the pressure to shift towards less environmentally-damaging modes of delivery.

The Kahala Posts Group (KPG) which is the alliance of nine national postal administrations in Australia, the United States, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Spain, France and Britain, was founded five years ago and named after a resort the members stayed at during their founding meeting in Hawaii. The postal operators have since launched an upgraded, guarantee-based international service between their respective countries and territories.

Therefore, Kahala Group focused instead on reliability of delivery. But to keep the reliability of the service, the Kahala members had to upgrade their tracking systems. It also required the creation of a “delivery calculator”, a database of eight billion postcodes that allows a customer to walk into any postal outlet, list their destination and be told a precise time window during which a parcel would be delivered, Brisbane Times further reported.

While the private couriers already offered that service and faster delivery, the Kahala members undercut their prices by 40 pct to 50 pct to stay competitive in price.

John further said that a worsening economic environment could prompt a trend to slower “deferred” delivery services.

The Kahala partnership is also moving beyond postage, with Australia Post, China Post and the US Postal Service preparing to launch a group-owned money transfer service to compete against Western Union, Brisbane Times added.

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Australia Post's AUD 155m tax grab

Posted by | May 27, 2008 | |

Australia Post will pay a “special dividend” of AUD 150 million to the Government in the 2008-09 financial year. The amount is on top of the AUD 300million Australia Post provides to the commonwealth annually.

Liberal senator Simon Birmingham asked Australia Post executives how they justified slugging consumers with increased postal charges when that money would simply be transferred to the Government’s coffers.

The committee heard that about AUD 90 million would be raised from increased postal charges applied to ordinary small and large letters, which were mostly sent by private individuals and some small businesses.

About AUD 55 million would be raised from pre-sorted letters, which are mostly sent by businesses, while the remaining money will come from other types of letters.

Australia Post group financial controller Michael Tenace said the amount to be raised from increased postal charges had nothing to do with the special dividend to be paid to the Government, which would come out of profits generated over two financial years.

He said the proposed price hikes were to cover the increased costs of delivering letters.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is reviewing Australia Post’s proposal to raise the basic postage rate from 50c to 55c and increase the price of other mail services.

The ACCC will release its preliminary views on the matter next month.

Australia Post corporate secretary Michael McCloskey said the average extra cost for households would be AUD 2.70 a year.
Australia Post’s CAD 155m ‘tax grab

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Ulrich Gygi wins the Industry Leadership Award at the 2008 World Mail Awards

Posted by | May 20, 2008 | |

Dr. Ulrich Gygi, CEO of Swiss Post, was honored with the Industry Leadership Award at the 2008 World Mail Awards in Budapest. The award, which is sponsored by Pitney Bowes, was presented to Dr. Gygi by Patrick Keddy, President Pitney Bowes International.

CEO of Pitney Bowes, Murray Martin said: “We’ve been involved in the World Mail Awards since its inception and are very pleased to sponsor the Industry Leadership Award. This award recognizes individuals who have contributed to the success of our industry and helped shape the future of global postal systems.”

The Judging Panel said it recognized Dr. Gygi for his leadership and steady transformation of Swiss Post into a more efficient and cost-effective entity. “In addition to domestic operational and financial success, Dr. Gygi has also demonstrated creativity and initiative by forming strategic partnerships in international markets,” said David Treworgy, the non-voting chair of the judging panel.

The winner was selected through an independent Judging Panel consisting of seven distinguished individuals in the postal and mail industry:
Jean-Paul Bailly, CEO of La Poste and 2007 award winner
Helge Israelsen, CEO of Post Danmark and a previous award winner
Graeme John, Managing Director of Australia Post and a previous award winner
John E Potter, Postmaster General and CEO if the United States Postal Service, and a previous award winner
William Tan, former CEO of Singapore Post
Elmar Toime, former CEO of New Zealand Post and a previous award winner
Dr. Klaus Zumwinkel, former Chairman of Deutsche Post World Net and a previous award winner

Pitney Bowes will also make a charitable donation or provide funding for an educational initiative of Dr. Gygi’s designation

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