|
|
 |
|
|
Showing results 41 -
50 of 55
|
PREV
5
6
SingPost Q2 Results - October 29, 2009
[Press Release.]
Q2 revenue rose 7.9%; net profit up 8.3%
The Group’s revenue increased 7.9% to S$130.3 million in the second quarter, boosted by
the consolidation of revenue from Quantium Solutions Group (formerly known as G3
Worldwide Aspac group of companies) (“Quantium Solutions”), which became wholly-owned
since May 2009. On a comparable basis with the same quarter last year, the Group’s
revenue would have registered a decline of 4.5% without the consolidation of Quantium
Solutions.
Mail revenue decreased 4.4% to S$87.6 million on lower international mail contributions.
Logistics revenue increased 142.6%, benefiting from the first full quarterly contribution from
Quantium Solutions, although revenue from Speedpost saw a decline. In Retail, revenue
remained relatively steady.
Rental and property-related income continued to grow, rising 23.1% to S$10.1 million, with
higher rental income from Singapore Post Centre and the leasing of space at the repurposed
post office buildings.
The Group’s total expenses increased 10.8% to S$94.4 million in the second quarter, due
mainly to the consolidation of Quantium Solutions. Excluding Quantium Solutions, Group
expenses would have declined 4.0%. Labour and related expenses rose, as higher staff
base offset the benefits from the Jobs Credit Scheme. Volume-related expenses increased,
as higher costs of sales offset the decline in traffic expenses. The rise in administrative and other expenses was largely due to additional costs from Quantium Solutions and higher
professional and consultancy fees.
For the second quarter, the Group’s net profit grew 8.3% to S$40.5 million while its
underlying net profit declined by 8.6% to S$35.4 million.
Said Mr Wilson Tan, Goup Chief Executive Officer of SingPost: “Although the global
economy is showing signs of recovery, the postal industry typically experiences a longer
recovery runway. We are certainly not out of the woods yet and we continue to face
unrelenting pressures from the operating environment.”
He added: “We remain disciplined on cost management, and are focused on expanding
Quantium Solutions’ business beyond cross-border mail and extending its core
competencies in Asia Pacific. We will continue to reinvent ourselves and stay relevant to
our customers, while actively pursuing new growth opportunities.”
Review of First-half Performance
In the first half of FY2009/10, the Group’s revenue grew 4.3% to S$252.0 million as the
consolidation of Quantium Solutions offset revenue declines from Mail and Logistics.
Excluding the consolidation of Quantium Solutions, revenue in the first half declined by
5.6%.
Total expenses rose 8.2% to S$181.1 million in the first half, due to the consolidation of
Quantium Solutions. Excluding Quantium Solutions, total expenses would have declined
3.3%.
For the first half, the Group’s net profit grew 4.0% to S$79.9 million while underlying net
profit declined by 6.9% to S$72.3 million.
New Terminal Dues To Impact Singpost's Profit By 5%
[ Angela Tan, Business times
.]
Singapore Post said on Thursday that the new terminal dues starting January 1, 2010 will affect its underlying net profit by 5 per cent yearly.
'The annualised impact is estimated to be around 5% of underlying net profit,' the postal and logistic group said.
With effect from 1 January 2010, Singapore will be reclassified as a New Target Country from the current category of Developing Country by the Universal Postal Union (UPU) for the purpose of terminal dues settlements, i.e. settlements for the processing and delivery of international mail between countries.
SingPost will settle terminal dues under a new settlement structure, which will result in an increase in its net terminal dues payments for international mailing as terminal dues payable by Target Countries are generally higher.
It said the group has and will continue to take active measures to mitigate the effect.
For the second quarter ended September 30, 2009, SingPost's underlying profit slipped 8.6 per cent to S$35.41 million.
Its underlying net profit is defined as profit after tax and minority interest before one-off items and gains and losses on property, plant and equipment.
SingPost has declared an interim dividend of 1.25 cents a share, to be paid on November 30, 2009. The dividend payout is unchanged from a year ago.
“CC Postal Revenue Protection Working Group – Update” by Jean-Philippe Ducasse Chair (representing PostCom) Director and Global Government Affairs, Pitney Bowes - October 29, 2009
Presentation made to the Postal Security Group in Bern, October 29, 2009
Presentation
Japan Post Relaunched Under New Management - October 28, 2009
[Kyodo News.]Japan Post Holdings Co. announced a new management lineup as the Democratic Party of Japan-led government seeks to change the previous government's postal privatization plan led by managers picked from the private sector.
Former Vice Finance Minister Jiro Saito succeeded Yoshifumi Nishikawa as president of Japan Post, while former Assistant Chief Cabinet Secretary Atsuo Saka and former senior postal services agency official Seijiro Adachi were appointed as deputy presidents.
The change of management came as the month-old government believes that the quality of Japan Post's operations has deteriorated under the postal privatization process, launched in line with former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's reform drive.
Under the new management, the government wants Japan Post to place more emphasis on maintaining public service in its work rather than business efficiency.
Saito said at a press conference that the new management team will seek ways for Japan Post to contribute to regional economies by cooperating with regional financial institutions, while putting emphasis on maintaining a public nature in the entity's work.
Japan began the 10-year privatization process for state-run postal services in October 2007, when the Liberal Democratic Party was in power, creating four companies to provide mail delivery, banking, insurance and over-the-counter services under the umbrella of Japan Post.
Under the original plan crafted by LDP-led governments, Japan Post would shift from being wholly owned by the state to a company in which the government holds a one-third stake and would sell its stakes in the banking and insurance units so they could be listed.
IPC Direct Marketing Intelligence Study - October 28, 2009
The latest edition of Postal Technology International features an article on a major pilot study on Direct Marketing Intelligence funded by IPC in 2008. The study looks at the role of Direct Mail in six national markets: Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, the UK and the USA.
As people change the way they live and do business, posts can provide value-added services to direct mail and realise its potential to bridge the gap between the online and off-line world.
The mainstream adoption of new technologies and the growth in the diversity of e-communication has resulted in unprecedented levels of complexity and fragmentation in marketing and communication today. However, it remains critical for advertisers to maximise return on their investments.
[Direct Marketing Intelligence.]
TNT Unions Don't Find Labor Pact; Strikes Loom - October 27, 2009
[Eelco Hiltermann and Maarten van Tartwijk, Dow Jones Newswires.]TNT NV's struggling mail unit may be facing strikes after unions said Monday they haven't found an alternative for a new collective labor agreement with the Dutch postal and express group.
At a press conference, union representatives said they haven't found an alternative for the labor agreement they had struck in principle with the company earlier this year, which was rejected by union members in April. Since then, the unions had been considering other options for the 23,000 postal workers at TNT Post in the Netherlands.
The problems at TNT's mail business are too urgent and can't be solved without forced redundancies and drastic cost cuts, union representatives said. They added that their members now have to make a choice: either they accept tougher working conditions in exchange for job security; or they keep their current salaries but risk losing their jobs.
The members will be asked to give their opinions on the issue through a referendum, the unions said, adding that the outcome will be the subject of further negotiations with TNT.
TNT Post has been hurt by declining mail volumes due to rising competition from electronic mail, and is also losing market share following the liberalization of the Dutch mail market earlier this year.
"The problem has continued to grow, making it even more essential to take action on costs," TNT said in a statement. The company added that it hopes to resume talks with the unions as soon as possible "with the aim of avoiding as many compulsory redundancies as possible."
If a deal can't be reached, TNT is making preparations for a restructuring, which would include cutting 11,000 jobs over a period of one to three years. The firm aims to save EUR125 million a year with the new collective labor agreement, while costs would amount to EUR275 million. The target is part of plans to save EUR395 million annually from 2015.
According to unions, TNT's restructuring plan is too drastic and that cost-savings of EUR75 million a year should be enough and that only 3,500 forced redundancies are necessary. Therefore, negotiations with TNT Post will remain tough, they said.
"Regardless of the outcome of the referendum, it will be hard to reach an agreement," union representative Sander Martins said, adding that he isn't ruling out strike actions.
SNS Securities analyst Danny van Doesburg said TNT faces "a period of big social unrest" and cut his rating on the stock to "reduce" from "buy."
UPU And ICANN Conclude Negotiations For .Post (Dot-Post) - October 27, 2009
[Press Release.]The global postal sector is one step closer to obtaining its own top-level domain name on the Internet,
to be known as .post (dot-post), thanks to the successful conclusion of negotiations between the
Universal Postal Union and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
The UPU is the first United Nations agency to negotiate such a contract with ICANN. UPU Director
General Edouard Dayan called the agreement “historic” for respecting the UPU’s unique character as
an intergovernmental organization bound by international law.
ICANN said earlier that the agreement represents “a significant accomplishment for the UPU, ICANN
and the global Internet community”. ICANN CEO and president Rod Beckstrom added: “The UPU has
helped mark out a path for other intergovernmental organizations to sponsor their own top-level
domains and this helps us expand our multi-stakeholder relationships in this field.”
The agreement must now go through a public comment process during a 30-day period before
ICANN’s board of directors will consider it for final approval. The public comment period will begin
after ICANN’s meeting this week in Seoul, Republic of Korea.
The .post top-level domain represents a platform for innovation in the area of global postal services,
and will provide opportunities for linking the physical and electronic dimensions of postal services.
“A top-level domain for a service-oriented industry such as ours is an opportunity to develop a trusted
space on the Internet for integrating physical and electronic postal services,” said Paul Donohoe, ebusiness
manager at UPU headquarters, responsible for the domain application and ICANN
negotiations. “.post will be a unique and focused Internet domain with the potential to connect the
entire postal community and its customers. The domain will enable the UPU and the postal sector at
large to work on delivering new innovative Internet-based international postal services, such as hybrid
mail, e-commerce, e-identity, e-communication and e-government, and built on UPU standards.”
For Poste Italiane’s Giovanni Brardinoni, who chairs the UPU’s standards and technology committee,
.post represents the future of postal services. “Not only will .post help postal operators such as Poste
Italiane to further develop secure electronic services, including registered electronic mail, but
consumers will be sure they are receiving electronic communication from a secure and trusted source.
The possibilities are endless.”
The .post project will be presented to UPU member countries over the coming days, as more than 800
delegates assemble at UPU headquarters in Berne from October 26 to November 13 for the 2009
session of the Council of Administration.
U.K. Postal Strikes Cost London 500 Million Pounds - October 27, 2009
[Brian Lysaght, Bloomberg.]The strikes at Royal Mail Group Plc have cost London businesses 500 million pounds ($817 million) and are delaying the U.K. capital’s economic recovery, the city’s Chamber of Commerce said.
The figure includes 200 million pounds in extra costs incurred during two days of national strikes last week by the Communication Workers Union and the rest from a series of local walkouts in London since the summer, the chamber said in a statement on its Web site today. The estimate is based on a survey of members.
“This is a colossal amount of money for the London economy to lose and will delay the capital’s economic recovery,” said Colin Stanbridge, chief executive of the business group. The extra costs include the use of couriers and the delay to payments and to consumer spending, he said.
The CWU has threatened three more days of national strikes starting on Oct. 29 in a dispute over job security and work rules as Royal Mail installs equipment to boost efficiency. Negotiators from the company and the union will meet tomorrow for a second day of talks arranged by the Trades Union Congress.
“We have had useful discussions today and the talks are being adjourned to allow further work to be done overnight on some of the issues involved,” said Brendan Barber, head of the TUC, in an e-mailed statement.
Stanbridge called for Peter Mandelson, the government’s business secretary, to personally “broker a deal,” something that Mandelson said last week he wouldn’t do.
The chamber has 3,000 member companies in the U.K. capital.
NZ Post: Securing A Universal Postal Service - October 26, 2009
[Press Release.]New Zealand Post is ensuring its nationwide letter delivery service remains fair for all New Zealanders through proposed changes to its access framework for other postal operators.
New Zealand Post Acting Group Chief Executive Sam Knowles says the proposed adjustments follow a review of how much other postal operators pay to access New Zealand Post’s network.
The proposal aims to set a fair access price that encourages competition while also maintaining a sustainable universal postal service.
The review found that New Zealand Post is providing postage rate discounts to other operators that are substantially higher than the legal minimum. This is commercially unsustainable and effectively means New Zealand Post is subsidising other operators.
"Given the decline in overall letter volumes due to electronic substitution, this is no longer tenable for New Zealand Post or for our shareholders - the people of New Zealand," he said. "We can no longer afford to subsidise our competitors at a cost of millions of dollars every year.
"Having undertaken a review, we believe the proposal we are putting to the postal services industry is the only practical option for both retaining the universal postal service for all New Zealanders, and supporting a competitive environment with fair treatment of competitors using the New Zealand Post network."
Under the Deed of Understanding with the Government, New Zealand Post is required to maintain minimum numbers of delivery points, to deliver six days a week to more than 95 per cent of New Zealanders, to provide competitors with access to its delivery network and to maintain a large PostShop network.
New Zealand Post is a state owned enterprise and has been operating in a competitive postal market since 1998. It has access pricing agreements with six of 27 independent postal operators.
Mr Knowles said New Zealand Post is consulting with the postal services industry on the proposed changes before making final decisions, which are expected prior to Christmas.
Dr. Botond Szebeny Appointed New PostEurop Secretary General - October 26, 2009
[Press Release.]PostEurop is pleased to announce the appointment of Botond Szebeny as the new Secretary General for PostEurop. Dr. Botond comes to us from Magyar Posta, Hungary in which he held the post of Executive Director of International Business with the overall responsibility for the international business and international relations of Magyar Posta since 2003. In addition, he was also a member of the Executive Committee. During this time, he has contributed to the renewing of the company’s international service portfolio, development of international sales activities, as well as to the significant increase of quality of international postal services of Magyar Posta recognised in 2008 by the most prestigious Certificate of Excellence of the industry.
In the last few years, Botond has lead various initiatives including the Universal Postal Union’s Financial Committee and participated directly in the preparation of the new EU postal directive as postal expert of EU’s European Economic & Social Committee.
Recently, Botond was elected to the Management Board of PostEurop with the responsibility of chairing the European Affairs Committee of the Association.
Botond is also a regular speaker at international conferences and author of numerous publications. Besides Hungarian, he speaks fluent English, German, Romanian and good French.
Botond was born in Brasov, Romania. He has a Degree in Economics from Budapest University of Economics as well as a Degree in Law from Eötvös Loránd University Budapest, Faculty of Law.
Botond will take on his new position from 15 October onwards and will manage PostEurop with the support of the core team as well as our members.
Itella Interim Report for January–September 2009 - October 26, 2009
[Press Release.]Highlights:
• Itella Group's net sales in January-September 2009 fell by 4.5% to 1,328.7 million (EUR 1,391.5 million in January-September 2008). Excluding the impact of acquisitions and divestments, net sales fell by 10.9%.
• Consolidated operating profit fell by 67.5% to EUR 22.1 million (EUR 68.1 million), representing 1.7% (4.9%) of net sales. Operating profit improved in Itella Information but shrank in Itella Mail Communication and Itella Logistics.
• The volumes of mail delivered by Itella fell significantly. First class letter volumes decreased by 8% and parcels by 13%. The volume of addressed letters has been falling for a period of five years.
• Performance was burdened by the EUR 14.2 million restructuring costs related to personnel.
• An impairment of EUR 10.6 million was recorded in the goodwill of Itella Logistics' Russian operations. The long-term outlook for the Russian business remains, however, unaltered. When the economic trends begin to recover, Itella's position on the market is expected to strengthen.
• A total of EUR 94.7 million was spent on investments that focused on postal services in Finland.
• Itella introduced fully carbon-neutral Itella Green delivery services for the letters, magazines, advertisements, and parcels for corporate customers. Similar services will be available to consumers in 2010.
Jukka Alho, President and CEO:
The economic conditions reflect differently on Itella's various services. On the whole, volumes are not showing any tangible signs of the expected upswing, which means the full-year net sales and operating profit will be weaker than a year earlier.
Itella Mail Communication has been able to partly compensate for the decline in delivery volumes through productivity-boosting measures, but the full impact of these measures will only be seen in the upcoming years. Moreover, regardless of general economic trends, we must prepare for a fall in letter volumes in the future.
Itella Information has seen positive development throughout the year with its profitability moving against the general economic cycle.
Itella Logistics' volume development reflects the overall industry development. Of all our lines of business, logistics has been the most severely hit by the economic downturn. Volumes have fallen sharply in Russia, although our Russian customers are currently reserving more capacity, which improves the business outlook for the future.
PREV
5
6
|
|
