The French government will decide in the next few weeks whether to allow Banque Postale, a unit of the French postal service La Poste, to compete with commercial banks in offering consumer loans, the daily La Tribune said, without specifying sources.
Finance Minister Christine Lagarde will meet with top officials of La Poste in the next few days to discuss the conditions for such authorisation.
Read MoreVittorio Mincato, chairman of the Italian post office Poste Italiane SpA, said the group is ready to list on the stock exchange its banking unit Bancoposta by the end of next year.
‘The decision obviously lies with the government,’ Mincato said in an interview with the weekly Il Mondo.
He added that two obstacles still have to be removed for the listing.
The first one regards an EU investigation in the sale of bonds for the state financial group Cassa Depositi e Prestiti SpA. The other one is the legal separation between the post office and Bancoposta, it said.
The weekly said the IPO could represent 25-30 pct of the banking unit’s capital.
Mincato’s mandate expires next year and he said he would be ‘very happy’ to accept another term.
He added that he does not believe that the Poste Italiane can be privatised until postal services are liberalised in 2010.
Read MoreTNT has established a dynamic presence in South Wales in the shape of a new GBP 3 million depot facility in Swansea.
The state-of-the-art 36 loading bay facility operates in tandem with the existing depot at nearby Llantrisant – giving Wales two fully integrated TNT depots – offering local, national and international express delivery services.
First Minister Rhodri Morgan said: “This state of the art £3 million facility is another example of how Wales is attracting internationally renowned businesses. The speed at which Swansea’s commercial sector is growing is remarkable and the fact that the UK’s biggest courier operator has decided to make this investment to serve this growing market better is a massive testament to that growth
“Freight logistics is a vital sector in Wales – accounting for around 6 per cent of employment and contributing GBP 2.5 billion to the Welsh economy.
“We also have to recognise that freight transport has a huge environmental impact in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. The Assembly Government is keen to help road freight operators meet this key challenge. That is why our Wales Freight Best Practice programme aims to reduce carbon emissions – and help Welsh road freight operators improve their operational efficiency.”
Employing up to 65 people – including more than half-a-dozen new positions – the new facility, equipped with all the latest mechanical handling technology, is located just three miles away from the previous ‘satellite’ depot on the Garngoch Industrial Estate.
Read MoreKEBA, the package logistic solutions company lands the largest individual order in the history of the company.
“KePol SB parcel machines are the package logistic solution with the world’s largest installation base. KEBA is now supplying an additional 1,500 DHL PACKSTATIONs to the 900 already installed in Germany. For KEBA, this follow-up order represents the largest order in the more than 30 year company history”, delights Gerhard Luftensteiner, President of KEBA AG.
The delivery of the 1,500 KePol SB parcel machines was recently fixed at the Post-Expo in Barcelona. Better known under the brand “PACKSTATION”, the KEBA parcel machines will be installed throughout Germany by the end of 2009. This will again improve DHL service for private customers significantly.
According to Andrej Busch, member of the group executive management Marketing DHL Paket Deutschland: “The positive reaction to the PACKSTATION by our customers beat all our expectations. In the age of Web 2.0, flexibility and free choice with regards to time, location and logistic channel are in demand. With the future country-wide service, 90 pct of the population will be able to reach one of the 2,400
PACKSTATIONs within 10 minutes.”
Today already, over 700,000 registered customers use the 900 PACKSTATIONs currently installed in Germany. Especially singles and professionals appreciate the convenience.
A classic win-win situation especially for the mail order business and internet sellers and their customers. Moreover, the KEBA system makes a significant contribution to reducing CO2 emissions and thus helps to protect our planet.
Read MoreTNT has secured its first major venture into the wholesale book market by winning a distribution deal with the UK’s largest book wholesaler.
The three-year contract between TNT Express Services and Gardners Books will see the former collect and deliver about 13,000 cartons of books a week.
TNT, which employs 2,200 at its UK headquarters in Atherstone, will transport the books from Gardners headquarters in Eastbourne to book stores in England, Scotland and Wales.
The deal is part of a growing number in Dutch-owned TNT’s new Media and Entertainment division. Danny Geach, general manager, TNT Media and Entertainment, said: ‘Gardners is a long-standing and highly influential player in the independent book wholesaler market and we are delighted to have been chosen to help them further strengthen their supply chain.
‘We will be utilising our widespread expertise and knowledge to ensure the supply to retailers is the quickest and most efficient it could possibly be. It’s nice to know that we’ll be playing a small part in making sure the latest blockbuster novels, celebrity biographies and thousands of fiction and non-fiction titles are in stock as soon as they’re available.’
David Brewster, Customer Care Manager at Gardners Books, said: ‘All customers who at present get a Parcelforce delivery will be switched to TNT Express.’
Read More
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