Tag: Hellenic Post

Greece sells 20 percent stake in postal bank

Posted by | Jul 10, 2007 | |

The government raised more than euro 500 million (USD 683 million) from the sale of a 20 percent stake in the Greek Postal Savings Bank as part of its 2007 privatization program, Finance Minister George Alogoskoufis said Tuesday.

With this sale, and euro 1.1 billion (USD 1.5 billion) raised following the sale of a 10.7 percent stake in Hellenic Telecommunications Organization (OTE) last month, the government is close to reaching its euro 1.7 billion (USD 2.32 billion) privatization revenue target for the year.

The privatization revenues will be used to pay down Greece’s huge public debt, estimated at 104 percent of gross domestic product, or more than euro 180 billion (USD 246 billion).

“The successful disposal of the 20 percent of the stake in Greek Postal Savings bank is an important step in the government’s privatization program,” Alogoskoufis said.

Tuesday’s sale lowered the government’s stake in the lender to 45 percent.

Shares of the Greek Postal Savings Bank ended 1.7 percent higher Tuesday at euro 18.30 (USD 25.01) at the Athens Stock Exchange.

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Citigroup sees Greek Postal Bank as a takeover candidate

Posted by | Jun 19, 2007 | |

Citigroup has initiated coverage on Greek Postal and Savings Bank (PSB) with a Hold/Speculative Risk (2S) rating and euro 17 target price, which is slightly lower than current price, but Citigroup analysts note that the Bank is a potential consolidation candidate.

PSB is a domestic Greek Bank with access to the Greek Post Office network. As a result, the company has access to the largest distribution network in Greece. In addition, PSB’s highly successful deposits passbook is held by about a quarter of the Greek population. PSB’s loan to deposit ratio is the lowest in the Greek market, implying substantial excess liquidity which could be reallocated into lending.

Management intends to double its retail market share by 2009, and Citigroup analysts believe this target is achievable. “We expect an increase in PSB’s lending market share to result in margin expansion.”

However, PSB’s growth is not without execution risks. Greek lending margins are under pressure, and PSB’s aggressive pricing is not helpful to the system. Also, the company’s ample liquidity is invested in long dated bonds, with yield falling as the book matures. Although the management team did diversify its investments, the amount of risk taken may have increased. Finally, PSB’s expansion in the consumer market may require additional loan loss provisions.

The Greek state is still a majority owner of PSB, with a 65% stake, but the government has repeatedly announced its intention to dispose of a further 15%-20% stake in the company. An eventual placement would be helpful to the company’s restructuring flexibility. In addition, should a placing be completed, PSB could become a potential takeover target. However despite the current M&A focused environment, PSB’s valuation remains rich, even if we adjust for a possible takeover premium.

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Wincor Nixdorf supplies IT systems for counter service at Greek post offices

Posted by | May 16, 2007 | |

Together with its Greek partner Unisystems, Wincor Nixdorf has won a contract to deliver IT equipment for the counter positions in 416 branches of the Greek postal system (ELTA). All 1280 systems – consisting of Beetle iSprint PC and extensive peripherals, including monitors, printers and keyboards – are scheduled to be installed by the end of 2007.

Wincor Nixdorf was the only bidder able to realize the extensive list of demands made by the Greek postal system. “The customer’s wishes as regards the systems’ energy consumption was a particular challenge that we met in addition to other technical requirements and quality standards,“ said Mrs Vicky Bassela, head of Wincor Nixdorf Greece. As early as 2003, Wincor Nixdorf provided front-end systems for 33 branches of the Greek post office.

With this order, Wincor Nixdorf continues its strategy of extending its core competence in bank and retail company branch operations into related sectors in order to tap their business potential.

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Post de-regulation offers reseller opportunities

Posted by | Apr 30, 2007 | |

Deregulation of the postal market will see new and traditional players alike scrabbling to implement mobile devices to survive, according to market watchers at Zebra Technologies.

The loss of the Royal Mail‚s monopoly has resulted in a plethora of delivery companies and courier services entering the industry, fighting to stay ahead of the game in a newly-competitive environment. Zebra is predicting that new entrants to the industry will fail in this market within twelve months if they are not properly equipped, due to the new levels of competition.

In the ‘War of the postie’ it is technology that will help new market players to stay competitive – mobile devices will make or break processes including delivery of registered mail, and collecting returned goods,” said Clive Fearn, vertical marketing manager at Zebra. “It represents a big opportunity for businesses to provide tailored systems to all the big players in Europe. There‚s so much pressure to stay ahead of competitors, it is essential companies are properly equipped to work efficiently, and offer as many services as possible.”

In the last twelve months, Zebra has supplied printers to leading postal operators such as Polish, Portuguese and Hellenic post. The company also works with businesses such as TNT and DHL, and with major postal and private operators across EMEA on projects including the mobile post and electronic stamps.

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Development of competition in the European postal sector

Posted by | Mar 6, 2006 | |

Postal sector regulation and postal sector policy

Forces governing competition (Porter analysis, contestability of markets)

The universal postal operator: facts, figures, strategy

Competitor postal operators and effect of competition on market structure and
market performance

Regulatory framework, liberalisation and access regulation

Market size of the postal sector and country information

Facts and figures for the national postal operator (US provider)

Competitor postal operators and market structure of the postal sector

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