Tag: Europe

Austria’s post office yesterday forecast huge growth potential in eastern Europe as state-owned incumbents are sold and markets opened to new services.
Anton Wais, chief executive of the group itself due to be privatised next month, said Osterreichische Post expected to follow the example of other big Austrian companies in expanding in the region. Austria’s banks are among the market leaders in central and eastern Europe after having spotted the market potential early. Mr Wais, who has pushed through a tough restructuring at the once barely profitable postal group since being appointed in 1999, admitted opportunities for big takeovers would be limited in the short term. That was because proceeds from his company’s initial public offering – only the third privatisation of an incumbent postal operator in western Europe after the Netherlands and Germany – would flow to the Austrian state rather than the post office itself. Mr Wais also acknowledged sales of incumbent postal groups in central and eastern Europe were still some way off in many countries for political reasons. “The privatisation process hasn’t started,” he said. “I think it will. But it will probably be different in each case. It’s a highly political issue.”