Japan Post Service Co., the mail, parcels and express division of the newly-formed Japan PostGroup, has upgraded its profits expectations for the second half of the year ending March 2008. But
its international expansion drive is facing criticism from multinational competitors.Japan Post now expects to increase H2 net profits by 8% to 79.2 billion yen, which is 30.2billion more than it forecast earlier this year, the Nikkei Weekly newspaper reported. Theimprovement is due to a smaller-than-expected contraction in mail volume and a reduced tax burden.Its revenues are expected to slip slightly to 1.06 trillion yen.
Over the last year, Japan Post has embarked on an expansion of its parcel and expressactivities. In October, it announced it would merge its domestic parcel service with that of NipponExpress in October 2008 to form a major competitor to the two market leaders, Yamato Transport andSagawa Express. It has launched a cargo airline in cooperation with ANA, and sealed aninternational cooperation partnership with China Post.
But the Nikkei Weekly recently reported that foreign courier companies have complained aboutpreferential treatment for Japan Post’s EMS service. They claim it is unfair for the new Japan Postto enjoy the benefits of faster customs clearance and other preferential public sector treatmentfor its lower-priced EMS service which is increasingly competing with their express services thatoperate on a fully commercial basis.
