Dutch mail company TNT NV increased its costs savings target to 395 million euros (USD 600.9 million) due to changes in its retail network, the firm said on Wednesday.
TNT, which had originally aimed for savings of 370 million euros between 2007-2015, said it will save an extra 25 million euros from ending its joint venture with Postbank.
It estimated restructuring costs related to this move at about 70 million euros before taxes.
Read MoreThe Supervisory Board of HUGO BOSS AG and Dr. Werner Lackas who has been the Managing Board member responsible for Purchasing, Production, and Logistics since October 1, 1997, have agreed that Dr. Lackas will leave the Managing Board of the Company as of today’s date. Dr. Lackas will be leaving on excellent terms in a move supported by all concerned. The Supervisory and Managing Boards of HUGO BOSS AG wish to thank Dr. Lackas for his many years of successful service for the Company.
Hans Fluri has now been appointed Managing Board member responsible for Purchasing, Production, and Logistics. Mr. Fluri will take up his post as Chief Operating Officer (COO) effective immediately.
Hans Fluri can look back on three decades of international management experience. Until the end of February 2008, he was CEO of Deutscher Paket Dienst (DPD) and DPD GeoPost Deutschland as well as a member of the Group Management Board of the French parent company, GeoPost S.A. Mr. Fluri has an extensive background in the brand name and consumer goods areas. He led Philip Morris Deutschland to market leadership as a member of the Management Board of the consumer goods group. From 1993 to 1999, Mr. Fluri was president of Philip Morris Eastern Europe, where he was in charge of establishing and developing the business in the former Soviet block. After this, he successfully headed up Philip Morris’ European business as president for four years, during which time he was also responsible for the global duty free business. All together, Mr. Fluri worked at Philip Morris for 24 years.
Read MoreRESTRUCTURING IN THE U.S. Following the recent USD 784M write down related to its Americas Express business, 600 recently announced layoffs in the U.S., and change in DPWN’s CEO, several European and U.S. newspapers have reported that DHL could announce either the sale or restructuring of its U.S. business at its parent DPWN’s analysts meeting in Bonn on March 6th.
BACKGROUND ON DHL’S PROBLEMS IN THE U.S. DHL bought Airborne in late 2003 and over the next few years merged its existing U.S. import/export business in with Airborne’s predominantly domestic express business. However, DP has never been able to realize its expected cost synergies and has reported an estimated USD 2.8B in losses in North America over the past 4 years.
WHAT ARE DHL’S OPTIONS? For anti-trust reasons we don’t believe that either UPS or FDX could buy DHL’s N.A. assets or complete book of business. More likely DHL will seek to further stem losses by reducing its commitment in the U.S. through cost reductions/restructuring and partnerships (outsourcing some line-haul and P&D), while making it clear they intend to remain in the U.S. Look for it to reduce terminals and push more freight towards the ground.
WHAT IS THE TIMING? DHL is in a tough position because if customers believe there is even a chance it will exit the U.S., DHL’s competitive position will be compromised. Thus action needs to be swift, but DPWN tends to be contemplative and current Teamster issues likely prevent a major restructuring before April or May. At this point we expect modest restructuring efforts to be announced on March 6th with a clear indication of remaining in the U.S. and more restructuring to come.
Read MoreIn 2007, TNT saw its net income rise by over 40% on 2006, after turnover increased by around 30%.
In 2006, TNT Romania’s net income reached 4m euros, therefore against an increase of over 40% the final figure could top 5.6m euros, while against a 30% advance, turnover could exceed 30m euros.
“The results are in line with TNT’s international strategy of focusing on the operations where solid performances are achieved, and where TNT has gained a leading position,” said Bogdan Enache, general manager of TNT Romania.
With regard to TNT’s revenues, international deliveries account for the largest percentage, with DHL and UPS as the company’s main rivals on this segment, while on the segment of internal delivery services, the main competitors are Cargus, Fan Courier, Curiero and TCE Logistica.
Last year, the overall value of the courier services market was estimated at 180m euros, while forecasts for 2008 point to 200m euros, according to TNT representatives.
“We don’t suggest a slowdown on the courier market, but rather a maturing market. This year, we expect a positive, balanced trend, and an average growth rate of 20-25%,” Enache explained.
Such a stable trend, he added, is a characteristic of neighbouring countries that joined the EU in 2004, and depends on the sustained development of the business environment.
“In recent years internal deliveries have outpaced international ones, however, considering the overall volume of deliveries the fact that growth rate differences have started to narrow is significant. Many domestic operators have been talking about rising cost pressure, considering the development of an efficient infrastructure is also necessary,” added Enache.
International courier services account for around 40% of the overall market, and the tendency is for long-term sustained growth.
“The new opportunities generated by the impact of the tighter commercial relationships with EU countries, as well as the development of several large investments and production centres mean that we anticipate a continued upward trend on this segment,” added the TNT representative.
Read MoreAmtrak has appointed three new directors to its Operating Board as it gears up for the next phase of development. They will all report to Alan Jones, Amtrak’s Managing Director.
Phil Whitlock has been appointed IT Director, a new position created to reflect Amtrak’s continuing investment in state of the art technology, ensuring delivery of the best customer service. The latest developments include e-billing, credit card bookings and the phasing in of more than 1,000 new scanners for drivers and depots as part of its leading edge track and trace capability. The new on-line booking system, in partnership with NetDespatch, has just passed 10 million bookings.
Joe Dudley, who has recently returned to Amtrak after a spell at NetDespatch, has been appointed as Deputy IT Director.
The Sales and Commercial teams will be strengthened with the addition of Michael Hawkins as Commercial Director and Tony Hammond as Sales Director,. Michael has a significant track record in the parcels business, having worked for UPS for many years and more recently was with DHL Express. Tony has had a successful career in Royal Mail and TNT and was, until recently, Sales Director of DHL Mail.
As well as investing significantly in IT, Amtrak has restructured its depot network to make it more efficient, re-organised its trunking schedule, improved the efficiency of its C&D fleet, taken delivery of hundreds of new vehicles and greatly improved customer service.
Gerry Ruffell, who took on the role of Commercial Director when the business was acquired, will oversee the introduction of Tony and Michael into the business before moving on to other challenges.
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