Spanish private mail company Unipost, the main competitor to national postal operator Correos, hasannounced it expects to close 2006 with record revenues of EUR 90 million, 15% up on last year.
The company, 37.8% owned by Deutsche Post, was set up just five years ago, a merger ofregional postal operators in Barcelona, Valencia and Zaragoza. Since 2001, it has achieved annualgrowth of 15% per year and now delivers over two million items a day throughout the country, about16% of the liberalised market.
“Our success is an example to follow in other European countries… (faced with) theprocesses of liberalisation of the postal sector,” said director general Pablo Raventós, whosefamily owns 55% of the company.
Unipost’s growth was due to quality of service, based on punctuality, flexibility, personalattention, efficiency and economy for the client, Raventós said. “We have grown and now have therequired size and capacity to manage mail for all Spanish households, while remaining competitive,”he added.
The Spanish postal market is gradually being liberalised, although it is uncertain whether itwill be fully open to competition by the EU 2009 target date, when the monopolies’ final reserveover mail weighing less than 50 grammes is due to end.
Downstream access in the Correos network was agreed earlier this year and last month theSpanish parliament passed legislation allowing private firms to pick up, handle, sort, transportand deliver business and domestic mail across the country.
Unipost has 185 mail centres in Spain and employs over 4,000 staff. The company serves morethan 15,000 corporate customers and in June linked up with Deutsche Post subsidiary, DHL GlobalMail, to offer international services for letters, and parcels weighing up to 31.5kg.
