Australia Post said yesterday its profit this financial year would be similar to last year, but refused to say how much money it would hand over to the Government. Chief finance officer Peter Meehan said it made an after-tax profit of AusD291.8 million in 2001-02.
Read MoreThe Australian Competition and Consumer Commission today announced its final decision not to object to Australia Post’s proposal to restructure prices for Reply Paid mail. The changes are to take effect from 1 July 2003, dependent on the deployment of a new Reply Paid computer management system. The ACCC’s decision will lead to a reduction in the price of small, barcoded Reply Paid letters. The price of large and small unbarcoded Reply Paid letters will rise.
Read MoreCourier companies say they might be more expensive than Express Post but they have an important edge: late pick-up, early delivery. An experiment by The Australian last week, with three packages sent from each of three locations, showed that Australia Post’s express mail managed to either beat the competitors into the hands of the recipient — or at least tie. And at considerably lower cost. Last week’s survey of nine satchels using two private companies and Australia Post showed similar delivery times for all services regardless of price. But it used a 9am pick-up time, which TNT‘s Peter Longley believes levelled the playing field for the government service.
Read MoreThe 45c stamp will be cancelled on January 13 when the cost of a basic stamp rises to 50c.
Australia Post spokesman Petros Kosmopoulos said it was the first time in 11 years the basic postage rate had increased.
“The 45c rate has not changed since January 1992, and during this period the consumer price index has risen by 30% ,” Mr Kosmopoulos said.
Read MoreNew mail redirection barcoding may help the postie find your new address faster but it won’t save Australia Post a lot of money just yet.
As of this month, people moving house or forwarding their mail while on holidays should receive their letters in less time, thanks to a barcode label on all redirected mail.
The system, an extension of Australia Post’s $550 million FuturePost investment in barcoding for bulk mail three years ago, will ensure mail that needs redirecting will take priority over other mail in the system.
That is because mail sorting, geared for the barcode (comprised of derivations of four bars with a distinct name, value and barcode symbol), will recognise a redirected item and push it ahead of the queue.
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