Service-oriented - Die Schweizerische Post

84 Annual Report | Financial Report | Financial commentary
Technology
Technological developments achieved over the past few years have resulted in changes in customer behaviour,
but at the same time made it possible to improve efficiency, optimize processes (e.g. sorting) and develop
innovative business opportunities (e.g. direct mail, scanning, archiving). Swiss Post is pursuing these developments
carefully. For example, we are currently building three of the most modern letter centres in the world
as part of the REMA (Reengineering Mail Processing) project. Business opportunities have been secured
by acquiring the GHP Group and extending the MailSource Group’s successful business model to the USA.
Politics
In Switzerland, further liberalization in the logistics and letter markets will increase competitive pressures and
put our market share and margins under pressure. There is a risk that the letter market will be fully liberalized
without Swiss Post being granted the same conditions within which to operate as its competitors. The outcome
of the imminent full revision of the postal legislation will therefore be of key importance in determining
Swiss Post’s competitiveness. Given the considerable burden of providing the universal service and the special
regulations governing the statutory service mandate, which are being increasingly called into question, it
will become ever more difficult for Swiss Post to both increase the value of the company and remain a socially
responsible employer.
Our strategy for success
Swiss Post is continuing its strategy of boosting its competitiveness and targeting profitable growth so as to
safeguard its success and core business in its market environment over the long term.
Important initiatives undertaken in order to boost our competitiveness involve improving the range of services,
organizing distribution channels, differentiating on price, increasing productivity and participating in shaping
the regulatory environment.
Swiss Post continues to target profitable growth in international markets and along its value chain.
Group structure
Swiss Post is a group under a parent company, comprising the Mail, Logistics, Financial Services, Passenger
Transport, International, Post Office Network, New Businesses and Other segments, each of which is responsible
for its own performance.
Mail Services relating to addressed letters, newspapers, unaddressed items, electronic
services.
Logistics Services Parcels, express and courier deliveries, transport, logistics services.
Financial Services Services relating to payments, investments, retirement planning and financing.
Passenger Transport Road­based passenger transport and supplementary services.
International Mailing and receipt of letters and parcels to and from countries abroad and related
services in countries abroad. Mailing of newspapers/magazines.
Post Office Network Sales channel for postal products/services and additionally for third­party products
for private customers and small and medium­sized enterprises.
New Businesses Services in promising markets such as dialogue marketing and customer management.
Includes subsidiaries of MailSource Group and GHP Group, newly acquired
on 1 September 2006.
Other Swiss Post units which cannot be assigned to the segments (service and management
units, Real Estate, Information Technology and Philately).
The first four segments form Swiss Post’s core business. Since the previous year, MailSource Group has been
removed from the Other segment and grouped together in the New Businesses segment with the GHP Group,
which was acquired during the reporting period.
While MailSource Group specializes in company­internal mail services, scanning and archiving, the GHP
Group has dialogue marketing and customer management as its core business. They therefore extend Swiss
Post’s value chain in terms of both up­ and downstream services and will help to offset the decline in volumes
in our core letters and parcels business, generate growth and exploit synergies for our business operations in
Switzerland and abroad. By establishing the new segment, Swiss Post is creating additional transparency.