Tag: Courier/Express/Parcels

City Link is not cutting wage bill

Posted by | Aug 26, 2008 | |

City Link has come out fighting against suggestions that it has been trying to cut its wage bill by around GBP 4m to remain profitable. Sources in the industry contacted CM to say some staff at the firm had taken a wage cut and others had been made redundant following the company’s merger with Target Express last year.

However, City Link sales and marketing director Stuart Godman insists the company has not cut its wage bill, and has only made a few redundancies following the merger with Target.

“I can categorically deny the suggestion that anyone has been asked to take a pay cut in our business,” he says.

“In fact, we are continuing to invest in the business, and will open a number of new depots over the coming months. New depots will open at Worcester, Norwich, Coventry and Stoke by October, and the Cwmbran depot will be refurbished and the Oxford depot extended.”

Godman adds: “In any situation where companies come together, which in our case is the Target Express and City Link brands, it is inevitable that there will be duplication of roles, which result in sporadic redundancies as well as the need in certain regions to either consolidate or relocate depot locations.”

Read More

Toll underlying profits rise despite overall loss from Virgin sale

Posted by | Aug 26, 2008 | |

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 More

Yurtiçi Kargo – GeoPost partnership becomes a regional force

Posted by | Aug 26, 2008 | |

Yurtiçi Kargo, through its partnership established in 2003 with GeoPost, Europe’s continues investments in Russia, CIS and Balkan countries.

The GeoPost – Yurtiçi Kargo partnership was established in 2003, and it enabled customers to send parcels to 230 destinations around the world. In the following year, the partnership has started organic growth across the neighboring region as it acquired companies in some countries, while establishing local partnerships through acquisition of major shares in others. The largest of the latter is Armadillo, a local and international parcel and logistics company in Russia. Further, GeoPost and Yurtiçi Kargo continued their growth within the CIS, starting with UVK the largest company in Ukraine. Meanwhile, in Kazakhstan, GeoPost and Yurtiçi Kargo have established a growing business without any local partner.

In March 2008, Yurtiçi Kargo and GeoPost have entered the Romanian market by acquiring the majority of shareholding of Pegasus, one of the most successful Courier and Express Parcel companies in this country through their partnership. Also, the partnership has started providing services in Bulgaria.

The GeoPost – Yurtiçi Kargo partnership has increased its incomes by 35 pct in the first half of 2008, as of end of June 2008; delivering around 25 000 parcels daily in Russia, Romania, Ukraine, Bulgaria and Kazakhstan.

Read More

Hermes Logistik introduces diesel surcharge

Posted by | Aug 26, 2008 | |

Hermes Logistik has introduced a diesel surcharge in response to the sharp rise in fuel costs in recent months.

As of August 18, the company is imposing a surcharge of EUR 0.20 for all domestic parcels and of EUR 0.40 for all parcels sent to European destinations. The surcharge is shown separately on all invoices.

Hermes said in a notice on its website that it had decided to follow competitors by introducing a surcharge since it could no longer absorb the higher fuel costs despite “many savings measures and the use of modern vehicles”.

German newspaper Handelsblatt reported that with the surcharge Hermes was now more expensive that DHL for consumer parcels. The cheapest Hermes parcel, including the surcharge, now costs EUR 4.10 while DHL charges EUR 3.90. A DHL spokesman told the newspaper that the German parcel market leader has no plans to introduce a diesel surcharge.

Read More

The Delivery of EMS Speeds up in China South-west

Posted by | Aug 26, 2008 | |

From August 14, 2008, China Post EMS started two types of premium time-certain services – EMS Next-morning Delivery and Next-day Delivery between Chongqing and other key cities in the south-west region. Currently, the time-certain delivery services include: two-way Next-morning Delivery between Chongqing and Chengdu / Kunming, two-way Next-day Delivery between Chongqing and Guiyang / Qujing / Chuxiong / Gejiu / Dali, and single-way Next-day Delivery from Zunyi to Chongqing . The two services will adopt the same rate of normal EMS : RMB 20 for the first 500 grams and RMB 6 for any additional 500 grams.

With the ongoing network optimization in the south-west, the EMS Next-morning Delivery and Next-day Delivery will be expanded to more cities in the region to meet the market demand for quality express services. For the time being, Chongqing EMS branch is planning to open the EMS truck route by use of the freeway between Chongqing and Guizhou Province , which will further reduce the time of transportation and delivery of EMS items along this route.

Read More

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

P&P Poll

Loading

What's the future of the postal USO?

Thank you for voting
You have already voted on this poll!
Please select an option!



View ResultsHide Results

Post & Parcel Magazine


Post & Parcel Magazine is our print publication, released 3 times a year. Packed with original content and thought-provoking features, Post & Parcel Magazine is a must-read for those who want the inside track on the industry.

Subscribe to the Magazine

 

Pin It on Pinterest