Tag: Europe

EU tells France to withdraw unlimited guarantee from La Poste

Posted by | Oct 4, 2006 | |

The EU told France on Wednesday to end the unlimited guarantee it gives the country’s post office La Poste that allows it to borrow money on better terms than rivals.

The European Commission said La Poste’s special status as a publicly owned company meant it was exempt from ordinary bankruptcy and insolvency procedures and the state could ultimately be held liable for its debts.

“This situation is tantamount to a state guarantee that is unlimited in amount and in duration and covering all of the liabilities of La Poste,” it said.

“The fact that the guarantee is unlimited allows La Poste to obtain finance on more favorable terms, giving it an advantage over its competitors and thus distorting competition on a market which is in the process of being liberalized.”

EU regulators recommended that France withdraw the unlimited guarantee by the end of 2008 and gave Paris one month to respond.

The Commission said it was not calling into question La Poste’s position governed by public law or its public ownership.

Following a similar EU demand, France withdrew an unlimited guarantee in December 2003 that had been granted to Electricite de France SA.

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Postbank completes integration of BHW and Deutsche Post branches ahead of plan

Posted by | Oct 4, 2006 | |

Deutsche Postbank AG successfully integrated construction bank BHW and 850 Deutsche Post branches into the parent bank on Oct 1, chief executive Wulf von Schimmelmann said.

This was ahead of the original target date of the end of the year.

‘This doesn’t mean that there isn’t anything left to do,’ Schimmelmann told reporters.

‘It will still take a bit of time until all the processes are fully streamlined and all the smaller bits have been take care of,’ he continued.

Postbank took over BHW and the 850 most profitable branches of Deutsche Post in January this year and added another 13,800 or so staff to its workforce of around 9,200.

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Italy post office ends commercial deal with Mediolanum unit

Posted by | Oct 3, 2006 | |

The Italian post office decided to relinquish a commercial agreement with Mediolanum SpA’s unit Banca Mediolanum, the daily MF said without giving a source.

The deal signed in 2004 enables Banca Mediolanum clients to use most of the post office’s more than 14,000 outlets for financial operations, it said.

Industry sources said the notice of cancellation of the contract is a routine procedure ahead of the contract expiry, and will trigger negotiations on a renewal of the contract under revised terms.

This renegotiation is an automatic procedure that is launched 2-4 months ahead of the contract expiry, they said, without giving a specific timetable.

‘It has been done to change the conditions. It is normal,’ one source said.

The contract is not exclusive between the post office and Mediolanum and other companies can set up similar arrangements with the post for their customers to deposit and withdraw funds, he said.

Mediolanum declined to comment.

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Norway Post to buy Dutch logistics company

Posted by | Oct 2, 2006 | |

Norway Post is to buy Scanex B.V. This acquisition will strengthen Nor-Cargo’s market position in the Netherlands for goods going to and from Norway and the Nordic region.
The Netherlands is a hub for both European and overseas transport and is therefore an important entry gate for goods going to and from the Nordic region. Scanex is currently a Nor-Cargo agent and Nor-Cargo is the market leader in the transport of goods between Norway and the Netherlands.

”With the acquisition of Scanex, we have ensured our international transport of goods to and from the Nordic region and the Netherlands. Scanex is a sound company that Nor-Cargo knows well and has close links with. This purchase was a natural step in the further development of both parties,” says Arne Bjørndahl, senior vice president of Norway Post and head of the Logistics Division.

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Competition is interested in parcels

Posted by | Oct 2, 2006 | |

DPD (France), post firm, will focus mainly on the delivery of parcels in the Czech Republic. It is a field of post services, where the national post firm Ceska posta (CP) (Czech Republic) has lost its monopoly. DPD transports about 5 mil parcels per year in the Czech Republic in 2006. According to the volume, DPD is in the third position after CP and DHL (US). DPD is a part of the multi-national group GeoPost, which is the third largest provider of express and parcel services in Europe. CP has about 39,000 employees and one-third of them are bearers. CP should be transformed from a state company to a joint-stock company shortly its privatization is being considered.

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