Tag: Deutsche Post

Germany plans to limit D.Post tax privileges-paper

Posted by | Dec 11, 2007 | |

Germany’s Economy Ministry plans to curtail the tax privileges of Deutsche Post DPWGn.DE so that only postage stamps will be exempt from value added tax (VAT), a German newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Competitors of Germany’s biggest mail delivery company have complained that Deutsche Post has an unfair advantage over them because it is the only firm which has enjoyed sweeping VAT exemption privileges.

According to internal Economy Ministry documents obtained by Financial Times Deutschland newspaper, the ministry plans to help level the playing field by limiting Deutsche Post’s VAT exemption to postage stamps.

This means that mass mailings without postage stamps and other postal services will no longer be exempt from VAT.

Deutsche Post loses its domestic mail monopoly next year.

However, German government plans for a minimum wage in the postal sector have made rivals rethink their challenges to Deutsche Post when its monopoly ends.

One of Deutsche Post’s main rivals, mail delivery company PIN Group, said last week it will have to cut more than 1,000 of its 9,000 jobs in Germany due to Berlin’s plans to put a floor under wages in the sector.

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TNT to look at all options 'very thoroughly' if minimum wage adopted in Germany

Posted by | Dec 10, 2007 | |

TNT NV will look ‘very thoroughly’ at all options, should the German government approve the postal minimum wage that is reportedly pushing Axel Springer AG to consider winding up its mail services unit PIN Group by Christmas.

The upper house of the German parliament, in which German states are represented, is likely to decide on the minimum wage at its meeting scheduled for December 20.

‘If the minimum wage is adopted in Germany then we will look at our options very thoroughly, everything is open. And we will include the winding up of PIN in our option finding or scenario thinking, once the fact is confirmed,’ TNT spokesman Pieter Schaffels said.

This morning, the Financial Times Deutschland reported that majority shareholder Axel Springer plans to wind up its mail services unit PIN by Christmas and write-down 600 mln eur due to the bankruptcy.

The German government recently decided to expand minimum wages to 8-9.80 eur per hour agreed by services union ver.di and an employer’s association dominated by incumbent Deutsche Post World Net AG to the whole industry, challenging margins of Deutsche Post’s competitors.

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PIN Group plans to circumvent minimum wage for German postal workers

Posted by | Dec 7, 2007 | |

Axel Springer AG’s PIN Group plans to circumvent new minimum wage laws for German postal workers by contracting mail delivery services at publishing houses and regional mail service companies, Financial Times Deutschland reported, citing an unnamed executive at PIN’s Luxembourg headquarters.

Newspaper delivery men and part-time mail men at regional mail service companies earn lower wages and are not necessarily subject to the minimum wage agreement, the report said.

PIN yesterday said it is laying of around 880 employees after the German government decided last week to introduce minimum wages of 8-9.80 eur for postal workers, based on a minimum wage agreement concluded by services union ver.di and an employer’s association dominated by mail incumbent Deutsche Post World Net AG.

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Dutch to postpone mail market liberalization

Posted by | Dec 6, 2007 | |

The Netherlands will postpone the full opening of its mail market, originally due in January, partly because the government fears Germany’s plans to introduce a minimum wage for postal workers will impede competition there.

One condition for the market opening in the Netherlands was a level playing field in Germany. Dominant Dutch mail company TNT argues that does not exist because the planned minimum wage is set too high for it to compete effectively with Deutsche Post.
Dutch Junior Economy Minister Frank Heemskerk said it was unclear what would happen in Germany, adding that discussion surrounding labour conditions for mailmen in the Netherlands was also still fluid.

TNT separately announced that it had settled all outstanding tax matters in Britain and that it planned to raise its dividend payout ratio to 40 percent of normalised net income by 2010 from the current 35 percent. “The introduction of the postal law from January 1, 2008, would not be prudent, and we thus should not do it,” Heemskerk told a parliament committee in The Hague. He said he expected the situation to become clearer in the first half of 2008.

The economy ministry has previously said that the market opening should ideally coincide with the fiscal year of mail companies, or at least with the beginning of a quarter. Both Deutsche Post, which competes with TNT in the Netherlands, and privately-held mail company Sandd sharply criticised the move.

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Postbank Germany intends to focus more strongly on customers

Posted by | Dec 6, 2007 | |

Postbank intends to further expand its position on the German banking market with its further developed strategy. To this end, the Bank has launched a program called “Next Step” that includes all of its units. The aim of the program is to make Postbank number one for liquidity and finance management by focusing more strongly on customers. Dr. Wolfgang Klein, Chairman of the Board of Management, emphasized before journalists in Bonn on Thursday that Postbank had successfully developed in all respects since its IPO in 2004 and had bucked the market trend in its divisions. “However, we must also take the next step to be able to challenge the competition in retail banking and meet the requirements of customers, the capital market and our employees in a few years,” said Klein.

With “Next Step”, Postbank also combines further above-average growth with strict cost discipline. In this way, the Bank intends to make itself one of the most profitable German banks in the long term. “Our restructuring and the ambitious goals associated with this will be reflected in our income statement and will also convince the capital market,” added Klein.

Postbank intends to significantly boost its profit before tax from EUR 941 million in 2006 to between EUR 1.40 billion and EUR1.45 billion by 2010. Profit after tax is set to grow to between EUR 980 million and EUR 1,015 million. The cost/income ratio in the traditional banking business is set to improve to just under 58 pct by 2010.

For 2008, Postbank is still striving for return on equity before tax of more than 20 pct and a cost/income ratio (in the traditional banking business) of just under 63 pct. The Bank still hopes to report profit before tax at the implied target amount of EUR1.22 billion.

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