Tag: Deutsche Post

TNT lodges lawsuit against German state in dispute over minimum wage

Posted by | Jan 23, 2008 | |

TNT NV has lodged a lawsuit with a Berlin commercial court in a bid to have the alternative minimum wage it is paying its German-based workers to be declared valid in a dispute the Dutch postal company is locked in around the liberalisation of the German postal market.

TNT is paying its German workers 7.50 eur per hour and has filed the lawsuit against the German Finance Ministry and the Social Affairs Ministry, TNT spokesman Pieter Schaffels said.

Schaffels added that by implication, the lawsuit will also affect the minimum wage of 8-9.80 eur that Deutsche Post AG has already agreed on with trade union Verdi.

TNT claims legislation by the German Parliament imposing the minimum wage at the level paid by Deutsche Post on the national postal market is hindering liberalisation of the German market, stressing that only Deutsche Post can afford to have the minimum wage set at that level.

The Dutch postal group pointed out that, unlike its rivals, Deutsche Post enjoys a VAT exemption for 40 pct of its operations in Germany.

TNT is currently active in the value-added branch of the German postal market — where it sends letters picked up after 5 pm and delivers them by midday the following day — and has a minimum wage of 7.50 eur.

It had initially planned to compete with Deutsche Post in the universal sector from Jan 1, but has postponed any further investment in the German market.

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Deutsche Post World Net: Results 2007

Posted by | Jan 23, 2008 | |

Deutsche Post World Net announced today that 2007 results were in line with its expectations and guidance of around 3.7 billion euros EBIT before non-recurring effects. All divisions have met their targets with a sound finish to the year. “Overall, we saw good progress on an operating level in our business last year, with full-year underlying EBIT of 3.7 billion euros. In 2008, we will make further good progress, targeting around 4.2 billion euros EBIT,” said Chief Executive Officer Klaus Zumwinkel.

Work continues to identify the optimal solution to performance improvements in the U.S. EXPRESS business. Following an impairment review, a non-cash writedown on EXPRESS Americas fixed assets of around 600 million euros will be recognized in the 2007 accounts. Deutsche Post World Net still expects the EXPRESS division to make consistent progress in underlying profit and to reach an EBIT of between 900 million euros and 1.1 billion euros in 2009.

“The U.S. Express business is a key management priority and we are looking at a variety of options to improve performance. In doing so, we are committed to maintaining a significant presence in the U.S. market, which remains of strategic importance to the Group,” said Chief Financial Officer John Allan.

The Group is heavily focused on the implementation of its “Roadmap to Value” capital markets program. Real Estate disposals agreed on since the program was announced on Nov. 8, 2007 will generate more than 350 million euros in cash, representing good progress toward the target of at least 1 billion euros in proceeds over two years.

As a further measure to increase shareholder value, Deutsche Post World Net intends to partner with a third-party service provider for parts of its global IT infrastructure, generating long-term savings for the Group of at least 1 billion euros. Details of this plan are scheduled to be released tomorrow morning, Jan. 24, at 8 a.m. CET.

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Hermes demands exemption from German value-added tax (Germany)

Posted by | Jan 21, 2008 | |

Otto’s logistics group Hermes, which specializes in package delivery, is demanding that the German government exempt it from paying value-added tax, Financial Times Deutschland reported, citing chief executive Hanjo Schneider.
‘We want to be exempt from value-added tax, just like Deutsche Post,’ he said.
Schneider said Hermes filed an application for exemption in November, and said the company will take legal action if the application is denied.
He also said the company is considering demanding compensation for the two months it has already waited for a response from the finance ministry.
Under current rules, rival Deutsche Post World Net AG’s basic postal services are exempt from the 19 pct VAT while comparable services provided by rivals are not, even after the company’s monopoly on delivering letters expires at the end of the year.
Deutsche Post obtained the exemption in exchange for the guarantee that it will deliver mail to every household in Germany, whether it is on a North Sea island or in mountainous regions of southern Germany.
‘We offer this universal service in the package sector as well,’ Schneider said.
Hermes, which has annual sales of about 200 mln eur, could save about 40 mln eur on value-added tax, the newspaper said.

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Analysts hand DHL bad new year's forecast (U.S.)

Posted by | Jan 17, 2008 | |

Worldwide shipper DHL is doomed to fail in the United States unless it radically shifts its business model, two well-regarded investment firms say.

Now, Morgan Stanley and Bear Stearns separately contend that DHL could eventually contract out operations to competitors, abandon its domestic delivery routes or sell off its U.S. operations entirely.

Facing U.S. operations that lost USD 900 million last year, the company’s new chief financial officer has “indicated the group needs to have a structural solution to U.S. losses” by March 6, according to the Morgan Stanley report.

“While we can’t respond to speculative reports, we have made a commitment to the U.S. market because of its importance to our overall global (DHL) Express strategy,” spokesman Richard Gibbs said in an e-mailed statement.

DHL, owned by German-based Deutsche Post, has spent billions of dollars to build up its domestic presence.

Nonetheless, U.S. operations lost USD 900 million last year and analysts don’t foresee a profit this year.

Morgan Stanley foresees three possible solutions:

Deutsche Post should try to sell all of DHL Express or at least the U.S. operations to UPS, FedEx or the U.S. Postal Service

DHL could fly parcels in but contract delivery to FedEx, UPS or the U.S. Postal Service

It could reduce its footprint to metropolitan areas and either contract pickup and delivery in the rest of the U.S. to the three carriers or offer only international delivery.

The first two options are less likely, according to Morgan Stanley.

In a November Goldman Sachs report, the firm said it was unlikely that DHL’s U.S. operation was on track to perform well.

Beh of Bear Sterns said any DHL decision to quit domestic operations would be difficult.

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