Belgian postal services company De Post/La Poste returned to profit posting 36 mln euro (USD46.9 mln) in 2004, compared to a 64 mln euro (USD83.3 mln) loss for 2003, it was reported on January 24, 2005. The company’s operating profit increased to 34 mln euro (USD44.3 mln) in the same period. It laid off some 2,000 employees through a natural attrition programme in 2003 and 2004. Currently, the company has 37,920 full-time employees.
Read MoreIreland faced a probable strike Wednesday at An Post, the national postal service, because of a showdown between union leaders and managers over the imminent closure of its troubled package-delivery unit, SDS.
The Communications Workers Union gave the company’s management a noon (1200GMT) ultimatum to reinstate 68 employees, who were suspended Monday after refusing to clear a backlog of packages from SDS’s closing headquarters in southwest Dublin.
An Post, which plans to close SDS by the end of the month, said it would not reinstate the 68 unless they do their jobs as ordered. The workers had refused to transfer packages to an An Post depot in Portlaoise, west of Dublin, where the company plans to handle package deliveries from now on.
Read MoreTPG NV is considering the opportunities to make a possible bid for a stake in Belgian postal company De Post/La Poste, a spokesman of TPG said on January 25, 2005. Bids for a stake in the Belgian company are to be filed at the end of February 2005 at the latest, Belgian media sources said, based on statements of De Post’s chief executive officer, Johnny Thijs. TPG is also in the race for a 25 pct stake in Post Danmark, for which the company has made an official bid. The Danish government expects to select an exclusive party at the beginning of February 2005. According to TPG spokesman, the company had enough financial space for both bids. The spokesman did not say when TPG would take a decision on a possible bid for a stake in De Post.
Read MoreDubai will re-confirm its position as a key global trader in March by hosting The World Mail, Express & Air Cargo Expo Middle East & Africa, the first conference led exhibition of its kind to be staged in the region. Leading global organisations such as Deutsche Post, DHL, FedEx, Emirates Post and Emirates SkyCargo will address major postal, express and air freight issues. A major topic to be covered includes the liberalisation of the postal sector, a mammoth task for an industry which last year delivered 204 billion pieces of mail globally and employs six million people in India alone. Organised by Streamline Marketing and Triangle Management and taking place at the Dubai International Convention Centre from 1-2 March, The World Mail, Express & Air Cargo Expo is being held under the patronage of Sultan Saeed Al Mansoori, the UAE Minister of Communications and Chairman of Emirates Post, who will speak at the opening of the conference.
Read MoreThe postal traffic of Portugal’s flag carrier TAP – Air Portugal reached a record-high 9,100 tonnes in 2004, registering a year-on-year increase of 13 percentage points, it was reported on January 24, 2005.
The record-high levels of the company’s 2004 postal traffic reflected mainly the strong performance of TAP’s offices in Lisbon and Rome. The air carrier’s office in Lisbon registered a total 4.5 tonnes of postal traffic in 2004, while the postal traffic of the company’s office in Rome exceeded 1.5 tonnes in the period.
TAP’s postal traffic in 2003 totalled 8,100 tonnes.
The largest client of the company’s cargo and postal services department Direccao de Carga e Correio is Portugal’s postal operator CTT-Correios de Portugal.
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