LazyLion
King of de Jungle
The loss-making Post Office plans to wean itself off snail mail, which accounts for 71% of its revenue, CEO Chris Hlekane said yesterday at the group's results presentation.
Hlekane, who has been at the helm for 11 months, blamed the R179-million loss incurred by the Post Office in the 2012-2013 financial year on its loss of the social grants payout contract, crippling strikes that cost the group R100-million, and dwindling subsidies from the government.
Faced with the prospect of no state subsidies from next year, the Post Office board has approved a turnaround strategy that includes embracing e-business and trimming costs.
The Post Office said in its annual report that its e-business unit - responsible for hybrid mail, mobile platforms, the internet and a self-service kiosk - was part of its strategy for migrating to a digital platform.
Hybrid mail involves digital data being converted into a physical product - for example, an e-mail sent on a computer is delivered as a traditional letter. The unit posted a 6.1% year-on-year revenue increase.
Hlekane said the corporatisation of Postbank was at an advanced stage and "we'll be sending through our application" later this month, after the group receives a R481-million cash injection from the Treasury.
Postbank has 7.3million customer accounts.
The largest chunk of the Post Office's expenses was salaries.
"We are working tirelessly with organised labour to devise a long-term solution to even out our seemingly unstable labour environment, which hampers productivity.
"We have abolished the use of labour brokers within the group and are converting our temporary workers into permanent part-time ones, in line with our operational model and affordability."
He said that performance targets have been introduced for the group's business divisions.
The bad news is that consumers will have to lick their own stamps but a positive is that the Post Office is debt free and has a solid balance sheet.
"It will provide a huge competitive edge to Postbank when it is fully corporatised," said Hlekane.
http://www.timeslive.co.za/thetimes/2013/09/19/post-office-ditching-snail-mail
Hlekane, who has been at the helm for 11 months, blamed the R179-million loss incurred by the Post Office in the 2012-2013 financial year on its loss of the social grants payout contract, crippling strikes that cost the group R100-million, and dwindling subsidies from the government.
Faced with the prospect of no state subsidies from next year, the Post Office board has approved a turnaround strategy that includes embracing e-business and trimming costs.
The Post Office said in its annual report that its e-business unit - responsible for hybrid mail, mobile platforms, the internet and a self-service kiosk - was part of its strategy for migrating to a digital platform.
Hybrid mail involves digital data being converted into a physical product - for example, an e-mail sent on a computer is delivered as a traditional letter. The unit posted a 6.1% year-on-year revenue increase.
Hlekane said the corporatisation of Postbank was at an advanced stage and "we'll be sending through our application" later this month, after the group receives a R481-million cash injection from the Treasury.
Postbank has 7.3million customer accounts.
The largest chunk of the Post Office's expenses was salaries.
"We are working tirelessly with organised labour to devise a long-term solution to even out our seemingly unstable labour environment, which hampers productivity.
"We have abolished the use of labour brokers within the group and are converting our temporary workers into permanent part-time ones, in line with our operational model and affordability."
He said that performance targets have been introduced for the group's business divisions.
The bad news is that consumers will have to lick their own stamps but a positive is that the Post Office is debt free and has a solid balance sheet.
"It will provide a huge competitive edge to Postbank when it is fully corporatised," said Hlekane.
http://www.timeslive.co.za/thetimes/2013/09/19/post-office-ditching-snail-mail
