Tag: Netherlands

Warsaw is cultural capital with the lowest price tag

Posted by | May 16, 2008 | |

Culture vultures who want to save hundreds of pounds on the cost of an arts and entertainment-packed short break should head for Warsaw. The Polish capital was far and away the cheapest city for a cultural weekend away, according to the new Cost of Culture report conducted by Post Office® Travel Services.¹

Even though sterling buys 22 per cent fewer Polish zloty than a year ago, the GBP 75 price tag – which included visits to Warsaw’s historic art galleries, museums and heritage sites, together with nights at the renowned Polish National Opera, ballet and a symphony concert² – weighed in at less than 25 per cent of the equivalent London cost.

London proved by far the most expensive of the 10 cultural capitals surveyed by the Post Office®. Its itinerary of 10 cultural highlights, which included trips to the Royal Opera House, Buckingham Palace and the Victoria & Albert Museum, costs around GBP 308, despite the offer of free entry to its national museums and galleries.

By contrast, while the sliding pound has made Prague up to 25 per cent more expensive than a year ago, the Czech capital rates as great value for lovers of the arts. It was second only to Warsaw, at just under GBP 104 for a culture-filled trip.

The survey of Europe and North America’s top cultural centres included six eurozone capitals and, as with other price comparison reports by the Post Office®, revealed a huge disparity in costs between these destinations.

The Cost of Culture survey identifies the five best value choices for each of the six cultural categories researched (allowing one entry per city in each category)³ and found that Paris was the only city not to feature. However clued-up culture vultures can cut their costs by visiting Paris on the first Sunday of each month, when galleries are free.4

The Post Office® Cost of Culture survey is available online for holidaymakers to view at postoffice.co.uk/costofculture

Read More

Dutch to discuss opening up of postal market

Posted by | May 7, 2008 | |

The Dutch government will brief Parliament in a fortnight on whether it will open up the domestic postal market to full competition on July 1, as previously envisioned.

Dutch Junior Economy Minister Frank Heemskerk said in March he hoped to open the market in July depending on developments in Germany and labour talks between Dutch postal companies and trade unions.

TNT has the remaining monopoly for letters of up to 50 grammes, with the market estimated to be worth about 1 billion euros (USD 1.55 billion) in 2007.

The Netherlands postponed the full opening of the market, due in January, partly because of the introduction of a minimum wage for postal workers in Germany, which it said impedes competition and where TNT had hoped to expand its operations.

The economy ministry has commissioned a report by a research firm on the impact of the German minimum wage, which it will present to parliament on May 20, Heemskerk wrote in a letter to lawmakers on Tuesday.

He will also present a report by EU Internal Markets Commissioner Charlie McCreevy on mail market liberalisation.

Heemskerk cited an agreement struck by trade unions and TNT’s rivals, privately owned Sandd and Deutsche Post’s Dutch unit Selekt Mail, last month regarding labour conditions for postal workers. “Based on these documents, Parliament and I expect to have a comprehensive picture and can judge if the legislative proposal for July 1, 2008 can be implemented,” Heemskerk wrote in the letter.

Read More

TNT announces start of last tranche under its EUR 500 million share buyback programme

Posted by | Apr 28, 2008 | |

TNT announced the start of its third and last tranche under the EUR 500 million share buyback programme on 29 April 2008. This last tranche amounts up to EUR 200 million.

TNT announced the EUR 500 million share buyback program on 30 July 2007: on 4 January the first tranche of EUR 200 million and on 15 February the second tranche of EUR 100 million were completed.

TNT’s issued share capital currently consists of 379,224,255 ordinary shares. This number still includes the 11,034,904 shares repurchased as part of the above-mentioned tranches. These shares are cancelled following the decision of TNT’s AGM on 11 April 2008 once all necessary formalities have been fulfilled. TNT intends to cancel the shares to be acquired under this last tranche taking into account applicable regulations as stipulated by law and the articles of association.

Read More

TNT N.V. publish 2008 first quarter results

Posted by | Apr 28, 2008 | |

The quarter, revenues and results are negatively impacted by the anticipated phasing impact of week 1 and Easter in Express and Mail. The impact is a decrease of around EUR 70 million in revenue, and around EUR 40 million in operating income compared to Q1 2007.

TNT’s outlook for 2008 is based at constant average 2007 foreign exchange rates versus the Euro. The decrease of revenues resulting from FX rate differences versus the euro in the first quarter was around EUR 65 million, with limited
impact on operating income.

Additionally, a first EUR 7 million impairment charge out of the approximately EUR 70 million Postkantoren restructuring costs previously announced, has been taken.
The underlying development of the business, taking into account above factors, will therefore be the focus of the summary analysis below.
Group
• Results versus Q1 2007 show expected impact of week 1, working days and Easter phasing
• Underlying business growth develops in line with Q4 2007 as expected
Express
Adjusted for impact week 1 and Easter:
• Core volume growth in line with Q4 2007, up 3.3 pct; yield 5.1 pct
• Operational revenue growth 10.4 pct
• Emerging platforms operational revenue growth well above 20 pct
• Operating margin in line with Q1 last year, at 8.2 pct
Mail
Adjusted for impact working days and EUR 7 million restructuring costs:
• Operational revenues 1.4 pct above last year’s level
• Emerging Mail & Parcels operational revenue growth over 15 pct
• EBIT at EUR 209 million (Q1 2007: EUR 231 million); decrease due to EUR 12 million higher net one-offs in Q1 2007 and autonomous volume reduction

Read More

TNT says Dutch labour deal not enough to open market

Posted by | Apr 25, 2008 | |

A deal struck by trade unions and rivals of Dutch mail company to include their workers in a national collective wage agreement is not enough to ensure a level playing field and justify opening the domestic market, TNT said on Friday.

The Dutch government has made its planned liberalisation of the Dutch mail market dependant on negotiations between delivery companies and Dutch postal workers which aim to include all workers in a collective wage deal.

The mail market’s liberalisation had originally been scheduled for January.

TNT, Europe’s second-biggest mail company, whose workers are covered by the collective wage agreement, has seen rivals privately-owned Sandd and Deutsche Post’s

Dutch unit Selekt Mail eat into its market share and profitability in the lucrative domestic market.

Sandd and Selekt Mail signed an agreement in principle with some labour unions regarding labour conditions on Thursday, TNT said.

“This agreement by no means fulfils the conditions for opening the market. It is far too vague and there are no guarantees built into it,” its spokesman Pieter Schaffels said.

TNT’s subsidiary Netwerk VSP, which employs 24,000 part-time workers, will not sign the agreement, he said.

“We want to see first if this is what politicians want,” said Schaffels. He said main trade union ABVAKABO FNV has also not signed the deal as it shares the same concern.

Read More

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

P&P Poll

Loading

What's the future of the postal USO?

Thank you for voting
You have already voted on this poll!
Please select an option!



View ResultsHide Results

Post & Parcel Magazine


Post & Parcel Magazine is our print publication, released 3 times a year. Packed with original content and thought-provoking features, Post & Parcel Magazine is a must-read for those who want the inside track on the industry.

Subscribe to the Magazine

 

Pin It on Pinterest