Positive market background
Mail is not being substituted by new technologies.
The market continues to grow, through
the worldwide development of
direct marketing. In addition,demand
for new solutions is appearing in industrialised
countries. Companies
are increasingly
automating their mail systems, as
shown by
growing sales
of folders
/ inserters. Postal authorities, which are
seeing increasing competition,are developing new
services for their customers and are implementing
real-time customer relationship management
solutions in which franking machines are used as
genuine postal terminals. Postal authorities need
to increase efficiency and
modernise their operations.This
is prompting them to decertify old technologies,
which is boosting the replacement of mailing
machines. A winning position
Neopost’s teams work closely with companies and
postal authorities.They can help customers work
out their requirements and offer them suitable and
competitive solutions.Neopost’s customer base is
also expanding to encompass
both smaller companies,to
which Neopost can offer simple and efficient
systems, and large companies that
currently use permit mail. In
the parcels segment,
growth in the
transportation industry and the increasing need
for comprehensive shipment monitoring
are creating a whole new market.Once
again,Neopost has a significant
lead in this area through its
Logistics Systems offering. Ongoing
productivity gains The integration
of Ascom Hasler and Stielow will generate
major synergies in terms of production
and sales.These synergies will start to
flow in 2003, and will have their full impact in
2004. The acquired companies give scope for a
major improvement in profitability. <18>
Strong growth
and earnings trend
The mail industry is
changing rapidly, and offers attractive business
opportunities and growth prospects. Neopost, driven
by its status as the leading challenger in its market, is well positioned
to play a leading
role in the sector’s ongoing consolidation and to seize these numerous opportunities.
>
