Tag: South Africa

The Western Union Company reported financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2007

Posted by | Jan 31, 2008 | |

Highlights for the fourth quarter include:

— Revenue of USD 1.3 billion, up 12pct

— EPS of USD 0.32, up 14pct

— Operating income margin of 28pct

— Consumer-to-consumer revenue increased 12pct, transactions up 14pct

— Consumer-to-business revenue grew 13pct, transactions up 49pct

Highlights for the full year include:

— Revenue of USD 4.9 billion, up 10pct

— EPS of USD 1.11, or USD 1.13 excluding the previously announced USD 0.02 per share non-cash charge

— Operating income margin of 27pct

— Cash provided by operating activities of USD 1.1 billion

— More than 335,000 agent locations

— 572 million total C2C and C2B transactions

“Western Union’s revenue and earnings growth accelerated throughout the year, which enabled us to deliver our expectations for the fourth quarter, and we are pleased with these results,” said President and Chief Executive Officer Christina Gold. “2007 demonstrated Western Union’s strengths as a geographically diverse global company, with 65pct of total annual revenue generated by our international consumer-to-consumer money transfer business. Additionally, our consumer-to-business segment continues to grow with Pago Facil, our bill payment company in Argentina, continuing to exceed expectations.”

Fourth Quarter Results

Revenue was USD 1.3 billion, up 12pct, or 10pct excluding the December 6, 2006 acquisition of Pago Facil. Revenue also included USD 28 million from currency translation of the euro.

Total consumer-to-consumer revenue in the fourth quarter grew 12pct to USD 1.1 billion on transaction growth of 14pct. A significant portion of the growth was attributable to the continued strong performance within the international consumer-to-consumer business, which increased revenue 17pct while growing transactions 19pct. The international-to-international subset, those transactions that originate outside of the U.S., grew faster still, posting 25pct revenue growth and 28pct transaction growth. This international-to-international subset contributed 54pct of Western Union’s fourth quarter total revenue.

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South Africa: Home Affairs Steps Up Turn Around Strategy

Posted by | Dec 4, 2007 | |

All Department of Home Affairs offices now use track and trace equipment and 254 offices have received scanners and receipt slip printers to date as part of their Turn Around Strategy.

Addressing the Governance and Administration Cluster in Parliament Friday, the Minister of Public Service and Administration, Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi said 1 249 front line staff have been trained in customer service procedures and that further training will be provided to 427 additional staff in the frontline offices.

To enhance the effectiveness of the existing Client Service Centre, the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) will also implement a Contact Centre, which will deal with all enquiries and service delivery complaints. In terms of identity document distribution, the DHA has investigated various methods of postage namely, postage of application forms from front offices to head office, postage of enabling documents from the head office to front offices, and postage of uncollected enabling documents from front offices to serviceable postal addresses

The Department previously signed a service level agreement (SLA) with the South African Post Office (SAPO) for the distribution of uncollected enabling documents from front offices to serviceable addresses.

The SLA was to be revised during 2007 in order to include secure mail delivery options. This review process was however expanded to include all three dimensions of postage engaged by the Department. Direct postage of identity documents to postal addresses was however discontinued with effect from June 2007. As a result of these challenges, the Department has decided to appoint a single service provider to provide secure and fast postal services in order to improve turnaround times and ensure secure delivery of applications and enabling documents.

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South African Post appoints new boss

Posted by | Dec 3, 2007 | |

South African Post Office has appointed a woman to steady the ship. Her appointment was announced at the first of the organisation’s board discussions on the theme “Transforming a public entity in the 21st Century”.

Lefoka took over as acting chief executive officer in May when Khutso Mampeule was ousted by the board of the postal entity.

It suspended and eventually fired Mampeule in May this year after he laid charges against his predecessor, Maanda Manyatshe, accusing him and other SA Post Office executives of having received R100-million in undeclared payments.

Manyatshe is involved in a R200- million defamation lawsuit against the post office. He claims he was forced to resign his position as MTN managing director as a result of the accusations levelled at him by the SA Post Office board.

Mfanafuthi Sithebe, a spokesman for the Communication Workers’ Union, which is represented on the board by two members, said: “We are happy that someone has been appointed to be held accountable for governance at the post office.

Theft at the postal service remains a problem and Lefoka said she would work to improve vigilance and security during her tenure.

The SA Post Office has begun showing a profit only in the past four years and it is planning to relinquish its government subsidy and become self-sustaining.

1 USD = 6.83323 ZAR

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UTi Sun Couriers Streamlines Operations and Real Time Delivery Confirmation

Posted by | Nov 29, 2007 | |

Fast, reliable service is important to most any business, but in the courier industry it’s do or die. Just one hour’s delay can leave a significant negative impression on customers waiting for that all-important letter or package.

UTi Sun Couriers, a division of UTi Worldwide, is Southern Africa’s largest courier company, specializing in moving express freight to and from any address in South Africa or overseas. With branches throughout the country, UTi Sun has built its business on timely and reliable deliveries.

To further enhance customer service, the courier decided it was time to replace an antiquated radio trucking system and approximately 800 outdated handheld computers. In its place, UTi Sun needed a technologically advanced parcel tracking system with the ability to confirm deliveries in real-time.

Equipping Mobility: Intermec, ProScan and MTN
UTi Sun Couriers management tapped Intermec partner ProScan Systems to design, equip and implement the new system. ProScan is a leader in barcoding, RFID, data collection, wireless networking, and mobile technologies, and is the sole distributor for Intermec products in South Africa.
The integrator – along with Intermec and MTN, Africa’s largest cellular network – delivered the first phase in one of the largest and most advanced combined WLAN and GPRS mobile communication and data collection systems in the country. The system features Intermec 761 handheld computers.

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New CEO for the South African Post Office

Posted by | Nov 29, 2007 | |

The embattled Post Office has finally appointed a new CEO. Bruce Whitfield talks to the lady in the hotseat.

Bruce Whitfield:
Well the Post Office has got a new chief executive. The woman who has occupied the position in an acting capacity since Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri sacked the last guy, he was Khutso Mampeule, who has taking over the position which had been occupied variously over the past 10 years by Mampeule, before him Maanda Manyatshe who had been accused of being crooked and before that a series of chairman had been in an acting CEO capacity. And we have been following the story quite closely ever since we were leaked a Deloitte governance report into the goings on at the Post Office, it made fascinating reading, it made fascinating listening, and Motshoanetsi Lefoka is the person who has taken over as chief executive at the South African Post Office and you are a braver person than I am Motshoanetsi.

Motshoanetsi Lefoka:
Good evening to you Bruce.

Bruce Whitfield:
So many of your predecessors have come and gone in recent years, you are probably the third chief executive at the Post Office in the last three years, a lot of people would say this is a poisoned chalice and you are taking on a very big job. What is your response to that?

Motshoanetsi Lefoka:
The job is quite a challenge and I believe the Post Office is an exciting organisation and I think the Post Office has proved itself despite the challenges that it has had in the past few years. But I also believe that some of the leadership that we have had have really put stability into the organisation and put the platform to work currently as the organisation we are experiencing. So it is quite an exciting time for the Post Office and an exciting time for me personally.

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