Tag: Malta Post

Maltapost privatisation latest red-letter day in postal history

Posted by | Jan 21, 2008 | |

The successful sale to the public of government shares in Maltapost is the latest salient episode in Malta’s postal history which, some researchers say, is unrivalled by any other country of an equivalent size.

Despite the lack of precise knowledge on the origins of mail in Malta, the work of a number of dedicated postal historians has contributed towards piecing together information that can enlighten postal enthusiasts on the happenings throughout the centuries, going back to the Order of St John.

October 1, 1995: Posta Ltd is set up to run the General Post Office.

October 1997: The Parcel Post Office, the Central Mail Room, the Philatelic Bureau and the Postal Administration were transferred to 305, Qormi Road, Marsa. The Valletta counter services start to operate from Dar Annona in Castille Place.

May 1, 1998: Postal services, run by Posta Ltd, a private limited company, are taken over by a new public limited company Maltapost plc.

January 31, 2002: Maltapost plc is partially privatised with the Maltese government selling 35 per cent to Transend Worldwide Ltd, a subsidiary company of New Zealand Post Ltd with a view to prepare the company to meet the EU postal directives and further liberalisation of the postal market.

September 6, 2007: The government sells 25 per cent of its shareholding to Lombard Bank plc where Lombard Bank effectively became the majority shareholder in Maltapost plc with 60 per cent shareholding. The government undertakes to sell to the public the remaining 40 per cent of shares it owns by floating them on the Malta Stock Exchange.

January 8, 2008: The government announces the sale of 40 per cent of its shareholding in Maltapost in an initial public offering.

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Full privatisation of Maltapost

Posted by | Jan 8, 2008 | |

Maltapost is to be completely privatised as government announced that it will be selling its 40 per cent shareholding in the company.

The major shareholder after the privatisation of the postal services is complete will be Lombard Bank. Government will be selling 11 million, two hundred thousand shares at a nominal prices of EUR 0.25 cents each.

The offer is open until 18 January.

Maltapost chairman Dr Joseph Said said that contrary to what people think, Maltapost offers one of the most efficient services around Europe and was classified as the 16th most efficient postal services out of 40 countries surveyed.

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New Chairman for Maltapost

Posted by | Oct 23, 2007 | |

Lombard Bank Malta plc CEO and Director Joseph Said has been appointed Chairman of Maltapost plc, succeeding David Stellini who shall however retain a place on the Board.

The change at the helm of the postal company follows the recent acquisition by Lombard Bank of an additional 25 per cent shareholding in Maltapost from the Government.

The Bank thus became the major shareholder in the company, as its total shareholding in Maltapost was raised to 60 per cent.

The Maltapost Board is now made up of, Joseph Azzopardi, Ian Pellicano, Joseph Said, David Stellini, Philip Tabone, and newly appointed director Aurelio Theuma, who is the Chief Financial Officer of Lombard Bank Malta plc.

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Maltapost workers return to sender

Posted by | Oct 14, 2007 | |

Job security is the name of the game for 120 of the 150 Maltapost employees who are entitled to take advantage of a scheme to return to the civil service.

The employees took the decision after Cabinet last month approved the transfer of 25 per cent of the government’s shares in Maltapost to Lombard Bank in a Lm1.2 million (€2.8 million) deal.

Lombard becomes the company’s majority shareholder with a 60 per cent stake, though the government has made it clear it intends to completely privatise Maltapost.

Maltapost employees who formed part of the Posts Department before 1995 have the right to return to the civil service under the terms of the 1996 agreement for public sector workers affected by privatisations. Maltapost has a total of 550 workers.

Union Haddiema Maghqudin president Gejtu Tanti is not surprised at the number of workers who decided to return to the public service.

Postal workers have passed through a turbulent period in the past 12 years – the postal department was turned into Posta Ltd in the mid 1990s before it was closed down and workers temporarily shifted to the Office of the Postmaster.

When Maltapost was born through partial privatisation, around 100 workers decided to return to State employment.

Mr Tanti said the company will now have to make a fresh call for applications, and he insisted that Maltapost was not overstaffed.

However, the UHM president believes Maltapost is now in good hands.

“With the constant improvements in IT, it’s an uphill struggle for all postal companies to do well, but I believe Maltapost will be stronger financially with a reputable bank like Lombard at the helm.”

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Postal service given two-year extension to fix up its act

Posted by | Oct 4, 2007 | |

The Cyprus Postal Service could face EU fines reaching the millions if it doesn’t get its act together, Telecommunications Regulator Vasos Pyrgos has warned.

In its 2005 report, the Office of the Commissioner of Electronic Communications and Postal Regulation (OCECPR) said that while there is sufficient competition in postal services, mainly due to express courier services, the government service has failed to meet requisite quality levels.

In 2004, the OCECPR fined the postal service GBP 10,000 for delays in delivering letters; in 2005 the fine was GBP 20,000, and in 2006 it reached GBP 50,000.

Officials claim that Cyprus has fallen short of EU delivery targets because it is the only country in the EU where the postal services are not permitted to take independent decisions to upgrade their department.

Brussels has given Cyprus and Malta a two-year extension (2013) to open up their postal services sectors, but Pyrgos said that drastic steps were needed if the Cyprus Postal Service was to become competitive by that deadline.

Lack of flexibility and poor efficiency are said to be the post’s chronic weaknesses, with some saying that key managerial and operational posts are left vacant.

Parliament has drafted a bill proposing to make the postal service a semi-governmental organization that will be able to run its own day-to-day affairs. But any sweeping changes to the regime are almost sure to provoke reaction from civil servants.

The Cyprus Postal Service still has a virtual monopoly on the market. As a state service, it is obliged to provide services to remote and hard-to-reach regions that may even be unprofitable to serve.

However, if it is able to prove that by providing service to hard-to-reach areas it runs a loss, then it will be eligible for reimbursement from a special fund.

Moreover, current regulations give the government service an edge over private couriers.

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