Tag: Europe

The head of the Norwegian postal service (Posten) wants to get out of the state-mandated banking business and shut half of its post offices around the country. That’s not popular, either among the public or politicians. Record profits aren’t enough to keep postmaster general Dag Mejdell happy. Dag Mejdell, who recently took over as Posten’s chief executive, unveiled record profits this week but nonetheless wants to further cut overhead. The postal service already has been through a major reorganization that closed traditional post offices and re-established some as kiosks inside grocery stores. That hasn’t been enough, Mejdell thinks, to cut costs sufficiently. Now he also wants to shut down as many as 150 of the 303 post offices left in Norway. “The analysis we have done indicates that there’s no economic foundation for them,” Mejdell told newspaper Dagens Næringsliv on Tuesday. Closing half the country’s post offices would save around NOK 500 million a year, he figures.

The Norway Post Group’s preliminary results for 2005 show earnings before tax of NOK 1,424 million, up NOK 172 million from 2004. This record-breaking profit is the result of positive market development, acquisitions, and product and service developments, in addition to efficient operations. “Norway Post’s record-breaking result for 2005 shows that we have succeeded in our growth strategy, and that our successful restructuring efforts have yielded results,” says Dag Mejdell, Norway Post’s Chief Executive Officer.