Tag: Europe

Czech state-run postal service Ceska posta's pre-tax profit falls 67% y/y to CZK 331 mln in 2006

Posted by | May 29, 2007 | |

Czech state-run postal services provider Ceska posta (CP), slated for privatization, reported a 2006 pre-tax profit of CZK 331 mln, down more than 67% year-on-year (y/y), mainly on expenses linked to its transformation into a joint-stock company, the company announced in a statement Tuesday.

“Extraordinary operations amounting to CZK 666.9 mln reduced CP’s pre-tax profit, but at the same time they helped us correct inaccuracies in past accounting and will enable more precise accounting in the future,” Deputy Finance Director Ladislav Musil said in a press release.

The company’s operating revenues rose 2% y/y.

CP’s transformation from a state public enterprise to a joint-stock company is a first step toward privatization. The process began last year and is scheduled to be completed in 2008.

If the several one-offs linked to this transformation are not counted in, the postal services provider would have generated a profit exceeding CZK 1 bln, CP stated.

CP will probably be privatized through the entry of a strategic partner, CP has previously said.

In 2006, CP delivered 900 mln letters and 26 mln parcels.

It employs 38,000 people and operates 3,400 branches nationwide.

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Vodafone virtual mobile commitments accepted by Italy's antitrust authority

Posted by | May 29, 2007 | |

Italy’s antitrust authority said it has accepted commitments made by Vodafone Group PLC to open its network to virtual mobile operators, ending its probe into Vodafone without imposition of sanctions.

The authority said its decision follows contracts signed by Vodafone with BT Group PLC and Carrefour enabling them to set up Italian virtual mobile operations, plus a similar preliminary contract with Poste Italiane.

‘The authority has considered the contract signed by Vodafone with BT Italia for wholesale access services to its network to be a decisive element,’ the authority said in a statement.

BT will be able to offer a wide range of mobile services including GSM, GPRS and UMTS as well as offering integrated fixed-mobile and mobile-mobile services for company customers, it said.

‘In addition, the contract’s conditions on termination fees allow BT Italia to make a fixed-mobile offer to company clients that competes with the one offered by Vodafone,’ it said.

On the Italian post office preliminary contract, the authority said this is particularly important because of the extensive sales network the post office has available.

The authority launched its investigation into mobile sector competition in February 2005, with Telecom Italia SpA and Wind Telecommunicazioni SpA also being probed.

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Support for postal strike growing in Britain as workers face ballot

Posted by | May 29, 2007 | |

Britain looks set for a national post strike this summer after independent polls showed that a clear majority of Royal Mail workers intend to vote in favour of action next month, The Times has learnt.

Postal workers are set to deliver a 65 per cent yes vote in favour of a national strike, according to independent polling commissioned by the Communication Workers Union (CWU), the main postal union.

The percentage in favour of an all-out strike over pay, which could cripple services as early as next month, has increased from 54 per cent four weeks ago to 65 per cent last week, according to sources at the CWU.

A telephone survey of 2,000 postal workers by the Campaign Company also rates a video sent to postal employees by Allan Leighton, the chairman of Royal Mail, as the single most negative message from Royal Mail. In it he uses the word “bulls**t”.

CWU sources are believed to be increasingly confident of a convincing vote in favour of strike action over the pay dispute amid an intense campaign by both sides. Last week the union advertised in seven national newspapers to put its case over pay and services to the public and to postal workers.

Royal Mail responded with its own campaign the following day. It has also used Mr Leighton’s direct appeal to workplaces as well as letters from him and Adam Crozier, its chief executive, to employees. It is 11 years since Royal Mail suffered a national strike.

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Royal Mail produce best-ever annual performance

Posted by | May 29, 2007 | |

Royal Mail has delivered to its customers the best-ever annual quality of service against target, it was announced today.

First Class mail comfortably exceeded the official target of 93.0 per cent in 2006-07 with 94.0 per cent of letters arriving the next day. Also, 98.9 per cent of Second Class mail was delivered within three days against a target of 98.5 per cent.

Overall, 11 of the 12 targets the business is set in its licence were achieved or surpassed in 2006/07.

The business mail services which performed above target level included Mailsort (for bulk mailers), Presstream (for publishers) and PPI (Postage Paid Impression) for mail posted in pre-paid envelopes. Standard Parcels also performed at its highest level on record with a 94.5 per cent against a target of 90.0 per cent.

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Online sales to triple over next 5 years

Posted by | May 27, 2007 | |

Online sales in the UK will almost triple over the next five years, according to a study by Verdict Research. The company predicts that online spending will reach GBP 28.1bn by 2011 – equivalent to 8.9% of all retail spending. (Verdict’s figures exclude spending on services such as flights, tickets and insurance.)
Verdict believes that the online market in 2006 grew at its fastest rate since the busting of the dotcom bubble in 2001. A growth rate of 33.4% was recorded for the year resulting in a total of GBP 10.9bn being spent online. The analysts at Verdict see no reasons for an end to the online shopping boom.

Verdict cites the widespread use of low cost broadband services as a leading reason for the boom in online shopping. Of the 3,000 consumers surveyed for its report, two thirds of the online shopper population (which now numbers 18 million), said they have broadband access and shop online more frequently because of it.

By 2011 the typical spend of an online shopper will grow to GBP 1,056 per year (up from GBP 606 in 2006), with the clothing and footwear, DIY and gardening and food and grocery sectors achieving the fastest growth. This growth in spending will be driven by consumers shopping online more often, rather than as a result of further expansion of the online shopping population which Verdict Research expects to grow much more slowly over the forecast period.

Verdict Research also highlights retailer investment as proving pivotal in growing the market. Over the past 12 months a host of physical retailers including the Arcadia brand sites, Dunelm, IKEA, Oasis, Superdrug, Waterstone’s and Wickes have launched new transactional websites. In addition many existing retailers have greatly scaled up their offers including Asda, B&Q, M&S, Tesco and Woolworths.

However, a number of retailers are either still not convinced of the value of operating online, or have made a strategic decision not to move to e-commerce.

Verdict Research highlights three types of retailer who seem set to stay out of the race to build online sales: food retailers where the infrastructure cost associated with an online launch and the strength of competition act as deterrents, value retailers (such as Matalan, Primark and Peacocks) whose business model depends on driving high sales densities from their stores and many smaller specialists whose limited scale makes it challenging to finance major online infrastructure. “For these retailers the case for major investment in transactional websites is far from proven,” says Nick Gladding, author of the report.

Despite the scale of the online opportunity, Verdict Research urges retailers to take care not to jeopardise the trust of their customers. As shoppers spend increasing sums online they need greater assurance that their financial details are safe, particularly in light of the growing number of ‘phishing’ scams, where customers have in error divulged personal financial information to third parties.

The introduction of chip and PIN online should help to allay security concerns but Verdict research advises smaller retailers that lack the expertise to develop their own in-house payment and security systems to consider outsourcing this process to ensure consumer uptake.

More information on the GBP 1,850 UK e-Retail 2007 report is available on the Verdict website.

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