Tag: Mail Services

Japan Post Reports 442 B. Yen in Net Loss in April-September

Posted by | Dec 23, 2007 | |

Japan Post Holdings Co. said Wednesday its predecessor Japan Post incurred a net loss of 442 billion yen in April-September, compared with a net profit of 237.7 billion yen a year before.

A special loss of 1,419.5 billion yen, stemming from a change in accounting methods to report pension costs, weighed down on the bottom line.

But the net loss was far smaller than the company’s estimate of 852.7 billion yen thanks to robust earnings at “Yucho” postal savings and “Kampo” postal insurance operations.

Thanks to increases in investment returns, net profit at the Yucho division grew 20.5 pct to 372.6 billion yen, and that at the Kampo division increased 35.6 pct to 661.8 billion yen.

The mail service division suffered a net loss of 814.6 billion yen, against a year-before loss of 71.4 billion yen.

Recurring profit tripled to 1,207.8 billion yen.

Japan Post Holdings, which is wholly owned by the government, started operating on Oct. 1, the launch of the 10-year privatization process of Japan’s 136-year-old state-controlled postal service system.

The holding company controls four units–Japan Post Bank, Japan Post Insurance Co., Japan Post Service Co., which took over postal services, and Japan Post Network Co., which is in charge of operating Japan Post’s office network

1 USD = 112.059 JPY

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EU raises doubt over US trade deal

Posted by | Dec 23, 2007 | |

The high hopes that greeted a transatlantic trade deal ostensibly ending a dispute over online gambling have been almost immediately dashed by a look at the small print.

The European Union last week hailed an agreement with Washington to open up its warehousing, courier and testing service sector as compensation for closing the online gaming market to foreign companies last year.

The Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) said the US Postal Service had allowed foreign competitors to handle overseas mail for 20 years. All it was doing was making the decision legally binding so it could not be reversed. Sensitive sectors such as domestic delivery and storage at ports and airports would remain closed.

An official added that this had “real value” and the EU agreed. “It gives the sector legal certainty. There is real value in binding the commitments,” said a spokesman for Peter Mandelson, the EU trade commissioner.

However, company officials and their lobbyists on both sides of the Atlantic are not so sure. “To us, this market was already liberalised and we have been operating in it for many years. It is too early to evaluate what long-term benefits this decision would have,” said a spokesman for the German courier.

World Trade Organisation officials said that it was up to the US and trading partners to agree adequate compensation between them. Washington would then notify the WTO of changes to US services commitments.

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24-hour general strike cripples Belgium

Posted by | Dec 22, 2007 | |

Most of Belgium was bought to a virtual standstill on Friday as a 24 hour general strike affected transport, schools and government services.

The BBC reports the industrial action, the first general strike in Belgium since 1993, forced the cancellation of trains, including international services such as Eurostar.
The protest was called by Belgium’s Socialist FGTB/ABVV union in protest at government plans to stop workers retiring early with full benefits.

Postal workers at sorting offices walked out on Thursday evening and airport authorities warned of possible disruption to flights.

There were also pickets and blockades at factories and ports. Antwerp, one of Europe’s largest ports, was shut for business as dockers refused to work.

Talks between the government and the unions are expected to continue over the weekend.

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Post Stamps out E-Cards for Most This Christmas, says Greetz

Posted by | Dec 21, 2007 | |

New research has found that 9 in 10 British people send Christmas cards and of those, 62pct still sends them by post. Furthermore, the research commissioned by new online postal greeting card service Greetz shows that over three quarters of people (77pct) actually prefers to receive real cards sent in the post.

In addition, the average person is likely to send around 37 Christmas cards a year, equating to an approximate annual spend of GBP 18.58,(1) excluding postage stamps. Greetz calculates that, with a UK average life expectancy of 79, Christmas cards alone will cost Adult Britons an average of GBP 1,133 each in their lifetime.

Interestingly, there was a disparity in the results according to the age of the respondent. For example, the over 55s were more than twice as likely to send Christmas cards of a religious nature than the 18-24 year olds. Amongst the younger group, a massive 82pct said that they usually buy modern Christmas cards depicting the likes of Father Christmas and reindeers rather than religious images.

The older age group is also the most likely group to send over 100 cards and to spend over GBP 100 on buying Christmas cards. Geographically, the Scots are the biggest British senders and spenders with 8pct responding that they would usually buy over 100 cards for the festive season.

The most popular time to send cards was about two weeks before Christmas (67pct) but as many as 13pct admitted that they leave it to the last week before Christmas or right up until Christmas Eve – before posting their cards. Again, there was a difference between the ages with the younger age groups most likely to leave it to the last minute.

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Deutsche Post CFO says minimum wage to have 'no immediate effect' on costs

Posted by | Dec 21, 2007 | |

Deutsche Post World Net AG’s Chief Financial Officer John Allan said a minimum wage for postal workers recently approved by Germany’s government will have ‘no immediate effect’ on the company’s cost structure.

‘We pay at least this wage level throughout the German mail services business,’ he told a company newsletter in an interview.

The upper house of Germany’s parliament yesterday approved the introduction of a minimum wage at 8.00-9.80 eur per hour for postal workers. The minimum wage is expected to hurt primarily Deutsche Post’s smaller competitors.

And commenting on government plans to liberalize the letter mail market next year, Allan affirmed Deutsche Post’s previous statements that liberalization could lower earnings before interest and taxes by 10-20 pct.

Allan also brushed off concern that a possible abolition of Deutsche Post’s exemption from German value-added tax could hurt results.

‘There is no reason for us to speculate about any consequences as there’s no evidence whatsoever that we would lose the exemption,’ he said.

Under current rules, Deutsche Post’s basic postal services are exempt from the 19 pct VAT while comparable services provided by rivals are not, even after Deutsche Post’s monopoly on delivering letters expires at the end of the year.

Deutsche Post obtained the exemption in exchange for the guarantee that it will deliver mail to every household in Germany.

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