Tag: Posten

Postal workers to become mobile Post Offices

Poste Italiane is rolling out a mobile postal service using Italy’s postmen and postwomen. The new service which has already been trialed in Rome, allows customers to top up their mobile phones, send registered mail items and order prescription medicines.

Using a hand-held device, postal workers can even print receipts and the scheme is expected to be adopted throughout most of Italy over the next few years. One advantage of the concept is the ability to track registered letters along the route which it is thought would also work well for legal documents such as court papers.

It is hoped that more services can be added to the scheme over time, once the support structure is in place. The postal prescription service will connect patient, doctor, and pharmacist, making the ordering and delivery of prescription medicines a snap. Whilst it is not expected to replace post offices, the service should prove popular for smaller transactions and is another example of Italy’s drive to modernise the post office network.

Norway Post introduced a door-to-door alcohol service via the post office network in February this year and Royal Mail is already investing in tracking and scanning devices in the UK to improve existing delivery services. It is thought that postal delivery workers in the UK could offer similar services to those being developed by the Italians, and in a liberalised postal market, all postal operators are keen to look at ideas that would offer a commercial advantage as well as protecting the future of postal networks in a declining letters market. The Italians seem to be leading the way.

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Erik Olsson resigns from Posten AB

Erik Olsson, President and CEO of Posten AB, and proposed President and CEO for the merged company with Post Danmark, leaves his position immediately due to lack of confidence from the Board.

Lars G. Nordström is appointed President and CEO of Posten AB. He will also lead the task of preparing for the integration with Post Danmark. Lars G. Nordström is a member of the Board of Nordea, where he was President and CEO until 2007. He is also a member of the board of TeliaSonera and VikingLine.

The process to recruit a permanent President and CEO will begin immediately.

Accord to contract, Erik Olsson has the right to 12 months notice in case of dismissal. He is also entitled to a severance pay equal to one year’s salary. The severance pay will be deducted against employment income. Olsson will be at the company’s disposal during his period of notice.

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Increased revenues and costs for Norway Post

Norway Post’s revenue in the first quarter. The operating revenues increased by 4pct to MNOK 6 997.

The earnings before non-recurring items came to MNOK 74, compared to MNOK 219 in the first quarter 2007. The profit performance in Q1 is influenced by the reduced volume during the Easter week. Easter fell in March in 2008, while it was in April in 2007. The earnings before non-recurring items as at 30 April (first four months) came to MNOK 208, an improvement of MNOK 35 compared to the corresponding period last year.

It was primarily developments in the Mail segment and the Easter effect that made a negative contribution to the quarterly result. Although the letter volume is increasing slightly, the decline in the volume of addressed letter products and banking transactions at post offices is continuing.

Norway Post’s Nordic operations improved during the quarter and now provide around 25 per cent of the Group’s total revenues. The Q1 operating revenues from activities outside Norway came to NOK 1.7 billion – a rise of 19.2 per cent compared to Q1 2007.

The Group is experiencing increased competition in all its business areas. The EU has decided on a liberalisation of the postal market in Europe and this will lead to full competition as from 2011. On 1 April of this year, Sweden Post and Post Denmark announced that they are to merge to form a large Nordic postal and logistics group.

One of the most important means of improving cost effectiveness and ensuring a high delivery quality is the new high-tech letter centre at Robsrud outside Oslo. This facility is under construction and is expected to be finished in 2009.

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On course toward a historic merger

Posten’s sales in the first quarter advanced slightly as a result of acquisitions completed mainly in the logistics business. Sales as well as profits were negatively affected by the shorter first quarter, with two fewer work days than in the first quarter the preceding year. Yet consolidated operating earnings of SEK 694m reflected one of the strongest quarters ever.

With sales of SEK 4.3 billion, the messaging business is essential for Posten. Posten Messaging’s sales declined as a result of fewer work days in the quarter. At the same time, operations are encountering challenges in the form of intensifying competition, more substitution, and a higher general level of costs, and operating earnings declined. Thanks to focused efforts to continually streamline operations, the business reported an operating margin close to 11 pct.

Posten Logistics continues to grow profitably. Acquisitions completed in Norway and Finland accounted for about half of the sales growth. The operations are focused on creating a Nordic structure for heightened customer benefits, increased efficiency, and specialization on the Nordic market with the goal of bolstering Posten Logistics’ position and future competitive strength.

Of the core businesses, Stralfors delivered the strongest relative improvement in earnings. Stralfors continues to grow briskly in information logistics. Several key orders were secured from major corporations with a broad customer base in the Nordic countries. Keeping focused on productivity improvements and streamlining operations will further boost profitability in the business. Stralfors’ European platform will give rise to new, interesting business opportunities in the group formed by the merger with Post Danmark
as the European postal market is deregulated.

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