Michel Kunz has been appointed as the new CEO of Swiss Post taking over from Ulrich Gygi on 1 April2009. At the same time Claude Béglé will replace Anton Menth as the new Chairman of the Board.
In appointing the 49 year-old Michel Kunz as the new CEO, the Board of Directors opted forcontinuity and someone who knows Swiss Post inside and out. Being a member of the ExecutiveManagement since 1999, Michel Kunz has already held management positions at Swiss Post for 14years. In 1999, he led the parcel business out of a crisis situation to become a successfulcompetitor in the open parcels market and was responsible for some of the main developments atSwiss Post in the logistics and IT fields, Swiss Post said.
Kunz is currently in charge of the two Swiss Post units PostMail and PostLogistics. Over thepast nine years, he has participated in all wage negotiations and in important discussions onrestructuring, redundancy plans and employment conditions with the trade unions.
Ulrich Gygi, who was appointed head of Swiss Railways as of 1 January 2009, has been the headof Swiss Post since 1 July 2000. Under his leadership, Swiss Post was transformed from a formerfederal company into the current group and prepared for the imminent deregulation. Over the pasteight years, Swiss Post revenues have risen from around CHF 5 billion to over CHF 8 billion, andnet income increased from around CHF 100 m to over CHF 900 m in 2007.
The newly appointed Swiss Post CEO told the Swiss newspaper Berner Zeitung that he does notplan any major changes in the existing company policy. “I stand for consistency. I have alreadyworked with Ulrich Gygi in the corporate management for more than eight years. We have the sameideas on how to lead a postal group, in most cases. In this regard, there will be no significantchange of course.”
But he added that he plans to expand the company’s presence. “I certainly want Swiss Post todevelop further. We have a clear growth strategy on the domestic market and abroad.”
On 1 April 2009, Anton Menth will also retire as Chairman of the Board. He will be succeededby Claude Béglé, who has been a member of the Board of Directors at Swiss Post since 1 October2008. Swiss-born Béglé previously held senior management positions in a number of organizations andlarge companies, including TNT, GeoPost/DPD and Deutsche Post World Net/DHL.
Kunz played down Swiss media reports that Béglé had opposed his appointment and would havefavoured an external candidate. “The media partly describe things in a more dramatic way than theyreally are. We had an excellent talk and I am looking forward to working with Claude Béglé,” hecommented.
