Tag: Mail Services

Middle Eastern postal market poised for growth

Posted by | Apr 2, 2008 | |

Postal operations in the Middle East have the potential to generate significant value, but they have limited time before regulatory liberalization and the spread of Internet commerce start to erode their competitive position, according to a new white paper.

• Middle Eastern postal companies today are like their European counterparts during the 1990s in facing abundant growth opportunities.

• The sector has begun to liberalize, slowly opening opportunities for new entrants.

• Immigrants in GCC countries are demanding value-added services.

• Low computer and Internet usage in GCC countries gives postal companies an additional advantage.

Middle Eastern postal companies can take advantage of several trends that Oliver Wyman expects to feed expansion and cross-selling opportunities in the region:

• Large existing post office networks and strong, recognized brands, such as UAE Post

• Large local populations and growing immigrant populations, which require basic services usually available at the local post office

• Regulated markets, which allow Middle Eastern postal companies to set barriers to entry much higher for new entrants as deregulation occurs. Bahrain already has a fully liberalized postal market and Egypt has committed to liberalization by 2009.

• Low penetration of PCs and the Internet at present, heavy reliance on cash transactions, and skepticism about online security

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Israel Postal Company finally makes a profit

Posted by | Apr 2, 2008 | |

After years of losses when it was the Postal Authority, the Israel Postal Company reported net profits for 2007 of NIS 40 million on Tuesday.

Avi Hochman, the director-general of the for-profit government company, praised management and staffers for their achievements.

In 2007, the company had gross income of NIS 1.8 billion. In the past, as a state authority, it lost hundreds of millions of shekels annually, forcing the government to make up the difference. In 2006, the then-authority lost NIS 19m.

The business orientation of the new company, which was launched last year out of the authority, was responsible for the profits, Hochman said. It now offers many new services and provides existing services on a higher level, he said.

As postal rates were last raised in November 1, the next annual report should show even higher profits, Hochman said. This was the case, he said, even though the company is bound to provide universal mailing services, including delivery to peripheral areas where there is little or no profit.

The company’s Postal Bank – with its 700 offices in postal branches around the country – would become a “growth engine” in the future, Hochman said. It brought in NIS 307m., or 18 percent, of company income last year, he said, adding that it must receive a commercial license soon to compete with the commercial banks.

Last year, the Israel Postal Company invested large amounts of money in computerization and advanced technological developments to improve its services, Hochman said.

1 GBP = 7.07635 ILS

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Prime minister says appeal to Royal Mail, not us

Posted by | Apr 2, 2008 | |

The Prime Minister has sought to shift responsibility for the threat of closure facing post offices.

Gordon Brown insists the decisions about which branches to close are being made by the Post Office, not the Government. He said that if people had a strong case over the planned closure of their local branch they could appeal, with cases going to Royal Mail chairman Allan Leighton if necessary.

Devon will find out in late May which post offices will be closed as part of a government overhaul of the network.

More than one in six branches in the area could go, among the 2,500 to be shut across the country.

Mr Brown said four million fewer people a week were using post offices than two years ago, and the network was losing GBP 3.5m a week.

“To keep 11,500 post offices going, the changes are being made now,” he said. “These decisions are not being made by us – the Government – but by the Post Office.

“They have come to us, and got more money from us, to enable them to carry out a programme that will cost us GBP 1.7bn over the next few years.

“Thousands of post offices remain in existence as a result of the help that we are giving.”

During a parliamentary debate over the closures many Labour MPs and Ministers were accused of hypocrisy for opposing closure of individual branches but backing the overall programme.

Mr Brown said complaints against specific closures should be aimed at Post Office bosses, not government Ministers.

He said: “It’s the Post Office that’s prepared to reconsider the individual closure decisions under the appeal network, and the appeal can go finally to Allan Leighton.”

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Belgian Post announced consolidated results for 2007

Posted by | Apr 2, 2008 | |

Belgian Post improved its underlying operating profits by 14pct last year on moderate revenue growth, and said its long-term restructuring and modernisation programme is on target ready for full market liberalisation in 2011.

The company increased revenues by 2 pct to EUR 2.28 billion. Excluding the negative impact of selling its French subsidiary Asterion in September 2007, revenues were up by 3 pct. Belgian Post said its “considerable sales efforts” had ensured that the drop in volumes was only 0.1 pct.

The operating profit (EBIT) fell from EUR 155 million in 2006 to EUR 96 million last year. Excluding the effects of one-off expenses, this represented a 14 pct increase, the company said. Net profits dropped to EUR 65 million from EUR 96 million for similar reasons.

The parcels and express business, due to be merged this year under the Taxipost brand, increased revenues slightly by 0.6 pct to EUR 97 million in 2007. “This performance was achieved in spite of a targeted attack from competition against our customer base and before the launch of our new parcels offering in 2008,” Belgian Post noted in its preliminary financial report.

Belgian Post CEO Johnny Thijs commented: “The progress we made in 2007 is due to our efforts during the past five years. Compared to 2003, the group has improved in every respect… Our mission, however, doesn’t stop here. We should continue strengthening our position if we want to face up to all our competitors in a market which will soon be completely liberalised. That’s why we need to further transform and modernise our company,” he stressed.

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