Tag: Europe

Springer to write down 600 mln eur on PIN

Posted by | Dec 10, 2007 | |

German publisher Axel Springer SPRGn.DE is preparing around 600 million euros (USD 873.4 million) in writedowns for its mail-delivery unit PIN Group, the Financial Times Deutschland newspaper reported on Monday.

Citing unidentified company sources, the paper reported that Springer plans to close PIN before the end of the year because it lacks some 15 million euros (USD 21.8 million) for expenses such as wages, the paper reported.

Springer did not immediately return two calls from Reuters.

The publisher said last week it is sounding out options for the future of PIN after announcing it plans to cut more than 1,000 jobs in Germany because of a planned minimum wage in Germany for postal delivery workers.

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The UPU publishes its world postal statistics for 2006

Posted by | Dec 10, 2007 | |

Letter volumes are stabilizing, the growth in parcel volumes is continuing, and postal revenue is sharply up: these are the three major trends highlighted in the worldwide postal statistics for 2006, published today by the Universal Postal Union.
Since 1875, the UPU has gathered statistics from the operators designated by UPU members around the world to provide the universal postal service. Of the 191 UPU member countries, 163 responded to the 2006 questionnaire. The figures are therefore based on information provided by participating Posts and UPU estimates.

With a total of 433 billion mail items, domestic letter-post traffic was slightly up compared to 2005, returning to the same level as in 2000. The strongest growth was in Africa (+2.1 pct), while the Arab countries saw the biggest drop (-2.5pct). Generally speaking, advertising items had a positive impact on mail volumes, which have faced heavy competition from electronic communications over the past few years.

Volumes of international letter post (5.5 billion items) were down 2pct overall, though there was wide regional variation, with volumes up 8.1pct in the Caribbean, and down a full 15 pct in Africa.

With a total of 6.235 billion items in the domestic and international services combined, parcels traffic was up 4.8 pct compared to 2005.

The biggest rise in domestic parcels traffic was seen in Africa (+11.7). For the international service, it was Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) which saw the biggest increase (+21.4pct). The delivery of merchandise ordered via the Internet is thought to be one of the growth factors.

With a total of 204.8 billion SDR* (equivalent to 308.1 billion USD), worldwide postal revenue was up 13pct compared to 2005. This growth was shared by three-quarters of UPU member countries. Letter post still generates more than half (52.3pct) of operating revenue, but this figure was 7.7pct lower than in 2005. Meanwhile, revenue generated by parcels and logistics services rose by 6pct to contribute 27pct of global revenue. Financial products accounted for 14pct of revenue.

*SDR = Special Drawing Right, the UPU’s official unit of account. At 31 December 2006,
1 SDR was worth 1.5044 USD.

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DPD chooses BroadVision

Posted by | Dec 10, 2007 | |

BroadVision, Inc., a global provider of e-business solutions, announced today that DPD selected BroadVision(R) CAS(TM) (Commerce Agility Suite(TM)) 8.1 as the web platform and application for global deployment of its new Internet presence www.dpd.com and the new e-commerce applications.

“We have developed DPD from a company serving domestic markets to a real international organization. We’re focusing on expanding the network and offering our customers a homogeneous product portfolio with international products and fully integrated services,” says Dr. Pia-Maria Zecevic, Director Communications of DPD. “BroadVision enables us to create a multi-language site with an integrated system and application architecture. Ease of web content management; reusable components; and reduced maintenance and administrative overhead made the decision easy to go with BroadVision’s solution suite.”

“We are pleased that DPD, a leading European parcel provider, selected our innovative BroadVision Commerce Agility Suite as its web platform,” said Andrea Rubei, General Manager of EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa), BroadVision, Inc. “BroadVision Commerce Agility Suite is a proven integrated platform for strategic companies that want superior flexibility, scalability and cost-effective components.”

DPD also chose BroadVision Global Services to implement the project.

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Royal Mail set to deliver a record 120 million items ordered online (UK)

Posted by | Dec 9, 2007 | |

Online retailers are set to enjoy a bumper Christmas this year as Royal Mail predicts it will deliver a record 120 million items ordered online this festive season – double the number handled just three years ago.

The UK’s 27 million online shoppers are expected to spend GBP 15 billion online in the run up to Christmas, up 60 per cent on last year, according to industry body IMRG.

Royal Mail has been working with internet retailers to plan for the online rush for Christmas presents and to ensure it delivers a high level of service.

And to help online stores offer the best service possible, Royal Mail recently launched two new services to improve the delivery experience for shoppers. Royal Mail Tracked enables retailers to provide their customers with a tracking number when the goods ordered are dispatched so that the shopper can track the progress of the delivery themselves. And the Safeplace service also gives shoppers the opportunity to specify a safe, alternative delivery point, such as a shed, porch or neighbour, should they not be at home to receive the item.

Royal Mail’s Home Shopping Tracker Study 2007 revealed that the average online shopper now purchases over 27 times a year, spending GBP 1,221. But the role of catalogues in the virtual world is a strong as ever, and shoppers who browse them before making purchases online spend GBP 1,526 a year – 25 per cent more than those who don’t.

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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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