Tag: TNT

Mediaservis: leading challenger to Czech Post

Posted by | Aug 27, 2007 | |

With the postal service market set to open up, Mediaservis is positioning itself to wrap up a bigger chunk of the mail delivery market. And more than just junk mail is at stake.

The Czech postal services market is the most open and developed within the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) region, yet rivals of traditional public operators are awaiting full liberalization of the European Union postal market, says Jaroslav Aujezdský, CEO of Mediaservis, an alternative competitor to domestic state-run post office Èeská pošta (ÈP).

Mediaservis is closely monitoring the liberalization process and will be prepared to meet all the conditions when the market is fully liberalized, and be able to provide delivery of mail under 50 grams, or under Kè 18 (EUR 0.65) in the Czech Republic, Aujezdský said.

Currently, Mediaservis has about a 20 percent market share of approximately 1 billion addressed mail items including letters, direct mail, newspapers and magazines sent every year. “We want to enter the segment of delivery of letters under 50 grams, which represents about 65 percent of all the letters that we cannot deliver at the moment although we are capable of doing it,” Aujezdský said. The 65 percent represents mainly the business-to-business (B2B) and the business-to-customer (B2C) market. Some 90 percent of European mail is from businesses, and this is where most new rivals are likely to target new lower-priced services, according to the European
Commission (EC).

Mediaservis was established in 1999 with the aim of providing a morning delivery service mainly for publishing houses. At that time the only operator ÈP offered late morning delivery of periodicals on weekdays, and no service on Saturdays.

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TNT to freeze wages of staffers for the next 2.5 years

Posted by | Aug 27, 2007 | |

Mail and package distributor TNT NV is to freeze wages for all staff for 2.5 years, and is also planning to have staff partly pay pension premium fees, news agency ANP reported late yesterday.

TNT’s management in the company’s internal magazine said that it will enter talks with labor unions concerning the plans.

The move is seen as necessary by the management due to fierce competition in the Dutch market, while TNT’s labor costs are higher than those of its competitors.

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TNT calls for 30 month pay freeze

Posted by | Aug 27, 2007 | |

TNT wants staff to agree to a 2.5 year pay freeze and to make their own payments into the company pension scheme, according to the postal group’s starting position for the latest round of pay talks.

Union Abvakabo describes the proposals as ‘dramatic’, saying the plans would cost workers hundreds of euros a year. Abvakabo wants a 3 pct rise per year.

TNT says the pay freeze is necessary to allow the company to compete with new players on the delivery market, which do not have proper salaried staff.

The company announced earlier this year that it plans to cut 6,500 jobs – a figure which could mount to 11,000 if workers do not agree to a slimmed-down pay and conditions package.

Negotiations on the new pay deal start on September 17.

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Hermes mulls legal steps if German government extends VAT exemption for Deutsche Post

Posted by | Aug 27, 2007 | |

Hermes, a Hamburg-based logistics groups, is considering legal steps if the German Finance Ministry extends the VAT exemption for Deutsche Post World Net AG beyond 2007, its Managing Director Hanjo Schneider told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

The tax exemption violates EU law, he said.

Deutsche Post enjoys an exemption from Germany’s 19 pct value-added tax in its letter and parcel services in return for its promise to deliver mail to every German household.

Without this advantage, Deutsche Post would have to raise its parcel prices ‘substantially’, Schneider said.

Hermes, which owns 29 pct in TNT NV’s TNT Post, moved some 50 mln parcels last year.

Schneider also criticized government plans to introduce minimum wages for postal workers.

If Deutsche Post’s wage agreement becomes a benchmark for the industry, the road into the letter market for new providers remains blocked, he said.

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Courier firms see ray of hope in postal bill

Posted by | Aug 22, 2007 | |

The controversial postal bill that will be introduced by the ministry of communications in the winter session of Parliament may not include an earlier proposal to restrict foreign direct investment (FDI) to 49 per cent in courier services.

At present, 100 per cent FDI is allowed in courier services.

“Internal work has been reinitiated on the draft Indian Post Office Amendment Bill of 2006. The department of post plans to place the bill for approval in the winter session of Parliament,” said officials.

However, the department still has to take a final call on limiting the FDI cap to 49 per cent, officials added.

Department officials feel it is not desirable to disturb a sector which has been attracting FDI in a big way. Foreign players such as Federal Express, TNT and DHL Express have a substantial interest in India. Temasek recently picked up a stake in First Flight, while DHL took over Blue Dart.

Other provisions in the proposed postal bill include prohibiting private courier companies from carrying any letter or parcel below 150 grams and creating a universal service obligation (USO) fund by making companies pay up 10 per cent of their turnover to cross-subsidise services to rural areas.

The bill will allow private courier companies to deliver letters below the stipulated slab of 150 grams but will stipulate that they should do so at five times the rate charged by India Post or 2.5 times that of the speed post.

Private courier companies have opposed these amendments to the bill, terming them “unfair”.

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