Tag: Europe

More than 100 post offices to be closed in Hungary

Posted by | Feb 19, 2007 | |

The Hungarian Postal Service (Magyar Posta Zrt.) is planning to close 103 post offices before the end of the year, and sell another 1,000 in 2008, writes fn.hu, based on a report in business daily Napi Gazdaság.
Starting today, 38 existing post offices will be closed, and another 65 will be shuttered on March 1.

Services will be cut where there are currently more post offices operated than specified by law. In Budapest, for example, there are 169 post offices, but only 86 are legally required.

Magyar Posta Assistant CEO László Szivi said that offices will also be closed where the volume of traffic does not justify their existence.

With the retreat of the company, a full liberalization of postal services can be expected by 2009. There are nearly 100 companies in Hungary registered to perform postal services, including several global firms, many of which are believed to be planning a further expansion of their operations once liberalization occurs.

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Correos opens a new centre in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

Posted by | Feb 19, 2007 | |

Correos has opened a new Centre of Automated Treatment (CTA) in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria. The centre will handle approx 450,000 and 500,000 letters and postal objects of standardised format daily. The machines have the ability to classify more than 40.000 shipments per hour. The new CTA will analyze the correspondence in the province of Las Palmas and will serve as a receiving centre. The mail directed to the interior of the province will be sent to the centres of classified distribution by postal codes and section of distribution. This will simplify the internal tasks of the sorting offices and will improve the quality of service. Also, Correos will have greater assurances in precise increases of volume of correspondence, because the new equipment can manage more shipments.

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UPS names Bernhardt Wagner as MD for Southern Europe

Posted by | Feb 19, 2007 | |

Bernhardt Wagner has been named as the UPS Managing Director for Southern Europe and also as country manager for Italy. The former MD James Smith has taken up the position of Mid-South District manager in the USA.

Wagner will be responsible for the strategic development and operational management of UPS in Italy and the Southern European region. Based in Milan he will tasked with reinforcing the company’s presence in these markets. The Southern European Region includes Italy, Switzerland, the Mediterranean, Greece, the Balkans, Africa and the Middle East.

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Omnia Network begins IPO

Posted by | Feb 19, 2007 | |

Italy’s CRM outsourcer Omnia Network earlier this week began its IPO on the Star segment of the Milan Stock Exchange. It is reported that Omnia Network will float 9 million shares (plus Greenshoe) – 6 million newly issued and 3 million from existing shareholders – at a price between euro 5 and euro 6.5 per share. This is slightly surprising as former shareholders sold their shares at euro 2.6 in mid-2006.
The subscription period will end on the 22 February. During its first nine months 2006, Omnia Network reported revenues at euro 177 million, EBITDA at euro 12.53 million, and EBIT at euro 10.02 million, with respective margins at 7.1% and 5.7%.

What can we expect from the first IPO from an Italian call centre player? Simply put, Omnia is raising capital to support its growth strategy (both organically and through acquisitions), international expansion as well as product and service differentiation. As for the latter point the company delivers services through its four business units, namely Multimedia Contact Centre (47.8% of revenues), Logistics and Transport (25.1% of revenues), Facility Management (32%) and System Integration (4%), which compete on different markets but coordinate for joint offerings. A primary target of the IPO is the acquisition of 40% of UniPosta, the company that aims to become the main rival to Poste Italiane once the Postal sector is fully liberalized in 2009 – indeed Omnia’s offering (especially the logistics branch) may be fully embedded in UniPosta, and being a new market (some analysts value it at euro 4 billion) could be a great driver for growth.

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Hickmans & Woodall join PalletFORCE

Posted by | Feb 19, 2007 | |

West Midlands transport companies Hickmans of Kidderminster and Woodall Transport Group (WTG) have joined the PalletFORCE palletised distribution network.

Both companies have long been aware of the benefits that membership of a palletised distribution network can bring, having previously been members of Palletways. The decision to switch networks and join PalletFORCE has been made in the long-term interests of the company and its customers, with a key objective being the continued enhancement of service levels.

“We’re a family business, and many of our customers come to us for precisely that reason,” explains Lorraine Hickman. “There seems to be a growing belief amongst customers that the ‘personal touch’ equates to good service, and we believe that PalletFORCE – with its member-owned structure – offers a comparable philosophy at a Network level.”

She adds that excellent word of mouth made PalletFORCE the ideal choice. “We have been aware of PalletFORCE for a long time and have worked with some of its members. They have all spoken positively of their experiences in the Network.”

This opinion is shared by Woodall Transport Group.

“Through our links with the Road Haulage Association and previously the Transport Association we know several PalletFORCE members and have been impressed with their reports of the Network,” comments Managing Director Richard Woodall.

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