KarstadtQuelle AG sold its stake in paper wholesaler Europapier AG to Bertelsmann AG unit Arvato at the end of last month, a spokesman for the German retailer told dpa-AFX news agency. He declined to comment on financial details.
The next project on the agenda is the sale of the MDAX-listed company’s logistics operations, he said, adding there are ongoing talks with Deutsche Post
World Net AG’s unit DHL.
Deutsche Post World Net AG unit DHL said it has won a 5-year contract to handle warehousing and distribution for Deutsche Telekom AG units T-Mobile and T-Com, beginning Sept 1. No financial details were disclosed. DHL and Deutsche Telekom have been cooperating on logistics operations since 2000.
Read MoreRate increases for United Parcel Service Inc., FedEx Corp. and DHL will take effect today. Rates for UPS Ground, UPS Next Day Air, UPS 2nd Day Air, UPS 3 Day Select and international services will rise 2.9 percent. UPS Hundredweight Service, an alternative to services offered by less-than-truckload carriers, will rise 5.9 percent FedEx, Memphis, will also increase its shipping rates today. The cost of its FedEx Express service will rise 2.6 percent. This includes a 4.6 percent increase in package and freight costs and a 2 percent decrease in its fuel surcharge. An indexed fuel surcharge was expected to be implemented yesterday for DHL’s DHL Ground and DHL@Home shipments. The fuel surcharge will be initially set at 2 percent.
Read MoreThe US Postal Service – no stranger to measuring itself for performance success and customer satisfaction – took the lead in four informal parcel delivery tests conducted by postal customers this holiday mailing season. The “New York Times,” “Grand Rapids Press” (MI), KSLTV (UT) and KTVI (MO), within days of one another, conducted mailing comparisons among the US Postal Service, DHL, FedEx and United Parcel Service, measuring delivery time, quality and cost, shipping identical items ranging from coffee mugs and holiday ornaments to pecans within each test and using comparable classes of mail.
Read MoreStrikes at DHL’s mail sorting office at Brussels airport continue to disrupt the express mail courier’s delivery network in Europe, according to a report in local daily Le Soir, citing union officials and the company. Stoppages by the 150 workers began last Thursday and Friday over the refusal of the German company, a subsidiary of Deutsche Post AG, to guarantee jobs at the centre. ‘It’s chaos in DHL’s European network,’ Hendrik Vermeersch, a SETCA union representative told Le Soir. ‘All the other sorting offices are overwhelmed. They (DHL) can’t wait much longer (to strike a deal).’ According to Vermeersch, 90 pct of workers in Brussels supported the action last Thursday and Friday, with further stoppages over the weekend by 10-15 pct of personnel.
Unions and the company hope to break the deadlock in a meeting with a mediator on Jan 4 at the earliest.
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