Deutsche Post chief executive Klaus Zumwinkel said yesterday that he expected the delivery company's expansion into the U.S. market to continue despite federal scrutiny of its role in the control of U.S. air shippers.
Zumwinkel, who made the statements while giving the German post office's second-quarter report, said the company expects to complete the acquisition of the ground operations of Airborne Express this quarter and proceed with its U.S. expansion. Airborne's planned spinoff of its air operations into a public company called ABX Air Inc., along with Deutsche Post's relationship with Miami-based shipper AStar Air Cargo, have drawn complaints from competitors.
FedEx and United Parcel Service argue that DHL Worldwide Express, a Deutsche Post business unit, still would have effective control of ABX Air. They have made similar arguments against AStar, formerly DHL Airways, which they say gets most of its revenue from DHL Worldwide.
Airborne's board is to vote on the sale of its ground operations Aug. 14.
In its second-quarter report, Deutsche Post announced a $172 million net profit. The performance beat the same period in 2002, when the company posted a $292 million loss after paying a fine to the European Union for misusing German government subsidies, but was lower than expected due to the economy, Deutsche Post said.
