Tag: International

TNT applies for EU's new AEO status for priority treatment at customs

Posted by | Jan 24, 2008 | |

TNT NV said it will apply for EU authorised economic operator (AEO) status, which will allow it to receive priority treatment at European customs when agents inspect shipments.

The new standard, launched Jan 1, is accompanied by increased border control, with the aim to increase security in the international supply chain and to modernise EU customs procedures.

The status gives companies the right of access to simplified procedures.

TNT said: ‘The AEO standard is to express carriers what the green ‘nothing to declare’ line is to individual passengers: a fast-moving and formality-light solution. The officials may inspect your luggage, but normally they won’t.’

The company says it is the first of the main express-services companies to apply for the status.

It said its TNT Post unit applied for the status as a pilot in the Netherlands in December, and now its flagship air hub in Liege is applying for AEO status with the Belgian customs authorities.

The European Commission said although each company must apply for the status with each individual country, it only has to complete the paperwork for the first application. The other countries are expected to grant the status without requiring the process to be repeated.

TNT said it will soon apply for the status for its main operations in the Netherlands as well as in Germany, Ireland and the Czech Republic, with all other EU countries to follow by the middle of the year.

The company said it is providing the authorities with a comprehensive self-assessment, which should allow them to process the application within 90 days instead of 300, and expects to receive full EU-wide accreditation by mid-2009.

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Royal Mail recruits ‘experts’ to boost postal campaigns (UK)

Posted by | Jan 24, 2008 | |

Royal Mail has ramped up its commitment to improving the effectiveness of direct mail campaigns by recruiting a panel of expert data partners.

The postal operator is setting up the supplier panel as part of its investment in data services. It will enable it to offer customers data solutions across a range of specialisms to ensure new and existing customers are effectively reached via the post.

Once the panel is complete, it will provide expert solutions covering acquisition, retention strategy, data processing, database work and online services for SMEs. Royal Mail has put in place a client services division and a team of data consultants to support the panel.

Dataforce is the first company to join the panel, following the issue of a tender to find five specialist data supply companies. The company is a UK leader in implementing, executing and managing multi-channel, integrated communication campaigns.

Royal Mail Head of Data Strategy Colin Bradshaw says: “The panel builds our credibility as a supplier of key services to the data industry. Going through the tender process means we are able to choose what we believe to be the best companies to meet the needs of our customers.

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Deutsche Post plans EUR 600 million writedown in U.S.

Posted by | Jan 23, 2008 | |

Deutsche Post AG said it will write down the value of its DHL Express unit’s Americas division as it struggles to compete with United Parcel Service Inc. and FedEx Corp.

Deutsche Post will write down 600 million euros (USD 874 million) of assets such as aircraft, trucks and office equipment, reducing 2007 net income, Chief Financial Officer John Allan said on a conference call. The move won’t affect Deutsche Post’s plans to raise the dividend by 20 percent, he said.

Deutsche Post last year scrapped a 2009 deadline for DHL to break even in the Americas, and some investors have called for the Bonn-based company to shed the unit. The carrier’s willingness to keep the business on its books suggests it plans to stay in the U.S. market, said Tim Sailor, principal of Navigo Consulting Group, a Long Beach, California-based firm that advises parcel shippers.

The decision will disappoint investors who want DHL to sell the unit, Damian Brewer, an analyst at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in London, said in a note to clients.
The postal service bought the business in 2002 to expand its express-parcel delivery network and compete with Atlanta-based UPS and Memphis, Tennessee-based FedEx in their home market.

Deutsche Post yesterday reiterated plans for a 2007 dividend of 90 euro cents a share.
The postal service will contract with other companies to handle some information-technology operations, leading to savings of at least 1 billion euros over seven years, Allan said today. Details of the plan, including the contractor, will be released tomorrow.

Deutsche Post announced plans last November to raise at least 1 billion euros from the sale of property to raise cash and attract investors. The postal service has generated more than 350 million euros of that amount so far, Allan said.

Shares fell 0.86 euro to 20.22 euros in German trading. UPS rose 5.6 percent today in New York trading, the most in more than six years, while FedEx climbed 4.8 percent, the most since September 2005.

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TNT lodges lawsuit against German state in dispute over minimum wage

Posted by | Jan 23, 2008 | |

TNT NV has lodged a lawsuit with a Berlin commercial court in a bid to have the alternative minimum wage it is paying its German-based workers to be declared valid in a dispute the Dutch postal company is locked in around the liberalisation of the German postal market.

TNT is paying its German workers 7.50 eur per hour and has filed the lawsuit against the German Finance Ministry and the Social Affairs Ministry, TNT spokesman Pieter Schaffels said.

Schaffels added that by implication, the lawsuit will also affect the minimum wage of 8-9.80 eur that Deutsche Post AG has already agreed on with trade union Verdi.

TNT claims legislation by the German Parliament imposing the minimum wage at the level paid by Deutsche Post on the national postal market is hindering liberalisation of the German market, stressing that only Deutsche Post can afford to have the minimum wage set at that level.

The Dutch postal group pointed out that, unlike its rivals, Deutsche Post enjoys a VAT exemption for 40 pct of its operations in Germany.

TNT is currently active in the value-added branch of the German postal market — where it sends letters picked up after 5 pm and delivers them by midday the following day — and has a minimum wage of 7.50 eur.

It had initially planned to compete with Deutsche Post in the universal sector from Jan 1, but has postponed any further investment in the German market.

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Deutsche Post World Net: Results 2007

Posted by | Jan 23, 2008 | |

Deutsche Post World Net announced today that 2007 results were in line with its expectations and guidance of around 3.7 billion euros EBIT before non-recurring effects. All divisions have met their targets with a sound finish to the year. “Overall, we saw good progress on an operating level in our business last year, with full-year underlying EBIT of 3.7 billion euros. In 2008, we will make further good progress, targeting around 4.2 billion euros EBIT,” said Chief Executive Officer Klaus Zumwinkel.

Work continues to identify the optimal solution to performance improvements in the U.S. EXPRESS business. Following an impairment review, a non-cash writedown on EXPRESS Americas fixed assets of around 600 million euros will be recognized in the 2007 accounts. Deutsche Post World Net still expects the EXPRESS division to make consistent progress in underlying profit and to reach an EBIT of between 900 million euros and 1.1 billion euros in 2009.

“The U.S. Express business is a key management priority and we are looking at a variety of options to improve performance. In doing so, we are committed to maintaining a significant presence in the U.S. market, which remains of strategic importance to the Group,” said Chief Financial Officer John Allan.

The Group is heavily focused on the implementation of its “Roadmap to Value” capital markets program. Real Estate disposals agreed on since the program was announced on Nov. 8, 2007 will generate more than 350 million euros in cash, representing good progress toward the target of at least 1 billion euros in proceeds over two years.

As a further measure to increase shareholder value, Deutsche Post World Net intends to partner with a third-party service provider for parts of its global IT infrastructure, generating long-term savings for the Group of at least 1 billion euros. Details of this plan are scheduled to be released tomorrow morning, Jan. 24, at 8 a.m. CET.

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