Chronopost, the parcel-service division of the French post office, La Poste, has postponed last Monday’s presentation of its restructuring plan until November 8 in response to pressure from the trade unions.
Read MoreLa Poste is launching the first of its revamped post offices today in Trelaze in the Maine-et-Loire. In total, the group plans to modernize 3,500 post offices nationwide by the end of 2008, for an investment of 770m euros. The new post offices are designed to be more attractive, particularly to younger people, and better located. They will be based on automated machines that can provide an estimated 60 per cent of services required.
Read MoreEuropean banks have been slow to exploit the distribution capabilities of domestic post office networks, focusing instead on the expansion opportunities provided by organic growth and mergers and acquisitions (M&A), said Carl Holsters, member of the executive committee of the Belgian Post Group, speaking at VRL’s International Retail Banking Forum (IRBF) last month.
And with revenues from postal services shrinking, the contribution made by retail financial services is becoming increasingly significant, helping European post offices prepare for full deregulation of the postal sector in 2009, when they will lose their national mail monopolies.
Read MoreLa Poste is expected to be forced to carry out some alterations to its application for approval of its future banking subsidiary, La Banque Postale, owing to an exceptional contribution of 2bn euros which will have to be paid to the state as part of the 2006 budget in connection with future and current retirement pensions for postal employees with civil servant status. In the application, La Poste mentions service agreements, which define its relations with the future bank from a legal and from a business point of view. In order to comply with competition law, it is envisaged that La Banque Postale will repay all costs which the parent company shoulders to assure the functioning of its banking subsidiary.
Read MoreBelgian postal services company De Post/La Poste lost some 2.5 mln euro (USD2.99 mln) due to franking machines fraud in 2004, it was reported on October 20, 2005.
A total 16,000 franking machines are installed at companies and civil service offices. De Post/La Poste has checked 5,100 franking machines and registered a large difference between the franked amount and the money received.
The company has lodged a complaint for fraud against several companies.
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