MILESTONES IN 2002
January
Having received all antitrust approvals, Deutsche Post World Net acquires a majority interest of 50.64% in DHL International Limited, the global market leader for cross-border express delivery. Danzas acquires the Cargoplan/ Cargoline group, headquartered in Vienna, making it the leading logistics service provider in Austria and strengthening its presence in Eastern / Central Europe.
February
Following a successful pilot phase, the PACKSTATION delivery service is also made available to private customers. This service allows recipients of parcels to decide where these should be delivered: to their home, to a retail outlet, or to a PACKSTATION machine.
March
The European Parliament approves the amendment of the Postal Services Directive, and in so doing opens the door for the progressive deregulation of European postal services.
April
Deutsche Post World Net expands its leading position in the area of mail order services by developing specific industry solutions and bundling its expertise in a newly-formed mail order competence center.
May
The international rating agencies Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch rate Deutsche Post World Net for the first time, and confirm the Group’s financial strength.
June
At Deutsche Post’s second Ordinary General Meeting, its shareholders approve an increase in the dividend of 37%, and authorize the Board of Management to buy back shares up to a total of 10% of the share capital.
Deutsche Post AG and the services union ver.di agree a new collective wage agreement. It is valid for 24 months from May 1, 2002 to April 30, 2004, and ensures planning reliability for a comparatively long period of time.
July
Deutsche Post World Net announces plans to work together with the Dutch direct marketing specialist Wegener in future, in both the addressed mail and unaddressed mail delivery segments. The Regulierungsbehörde für Telekommunikation und Post (Regulatory Authority for Telecommunications and Posts) orders a reduction in postal charges for mail products requiring approval, effective from January 1, 2003. The EU Commission rules that Deutsche Post must repay €907 million to the Federal Republic of Germany, which it allegedly received wrongly as state aid. Deutsche Post files an appeal against this ruling. Deutsche Post World Net welcomes the implementation of EU law in German law: from the start of 2003, letters and addressed catalogs over 100g will be opened up to competition. Starting in 2006, the weight ceiling will be cut to 50g.
August
Deutsche Post World Net is involved in the Germany-wide charity appeal for the flood victims: we issue a special stamp, donate €1.5 million, make our vehicle fleet available for transportation and emergencies, and transport postbags to the areas hit by the flooding as an alternative to sandbags. Postbank grants special conditions for real estate loans to those living in affected areas; employees affected by the flooding are offered interest-free loans.
The British regulatory authority grants Deutsche Post Global Mail a license to deliver post within the United Kingdom. This represents our entry into one of the largest mail markets in Europe.
September
The German regulatory authority approves the new letter rates; they will come into force on the designated date of January 1, 2003.
The Philips electronics group commissions Deutsche Post Euro Express to handle the Europe-wide distribution of its parcels and pallets not only on a domestic basis, but also in cross-border distribution in 17 European countries.
October
The first bond to be issued by Deutsche Post is received positively on the international financial markets. In order to meet the high level of investor interest, we increase the planned issuing volume and issue the bond in two tranches with different terms and interest rates. The EU Commission approves our acquisition of the 25% of shares in DHL previously held by Lufthansa Cargo. This allows us to increase our holding to more than 75%. Dr. Klaus Zumwinkel presents the Group-wide STAR value creation program, with which we aim to increase the Group’s earnings to €3.1 billion by the end of 2005. As part of this process, DHL, Danzas and Deutsche Post Euro Express are to be fully integrated and incorporated under the single DHL brand in future.
November
DHL Worldwide Express announces its acquisition of the Canadian express service provider Loomis. This acquisition allows us to strengthen our position in the North American market for groundbased express delivery and to press ahead with our global growth strategy.
The 2002 season sees the end of Deutsche Post World Net’s involvement in Formula 1. After three years of intensively leveraging this relationship, we have fulfilled all of our communications goals, and hence decide against extending our agreement with the Jordan team. Van Gend & Loos Euro Express wins the Logistics Prize for the Netherlands. The jury pays tribute to the innovative service which has seen our subsidiary develop successfully from a pure transport company into a logistics service provider. Postbank puts the first module of its standard software for banking transactions, developed in conjunction with SAP, into operation. This represents a milestone on Postbank’s way towards becoming the cost leader in retail banking.
December
Postbank acquires two subsidiaries of Credit Suisse (Deutschland) AG. With the newly-formed Postbank Vermögensberatung AG, it supplements its outlet and online sales activities with mobile sales of its services.
Deutsche Post World Net acquires the remaining 24.4% interest in DHL. This means that we now fully own the company. More than 2,000 Deutsche Post World Net employees move in to the new Group headquarters; at 163 meters, the Post Tower is the tallest office building in North Rhine-Westphalia.
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