Letters could become more expensive as early as the beginning of 2024. Deutsche Post wants to increase postage a year earlier than planned and is aiming for an increase of 85 cents in the direction of 95 cents for the standard letter. The prices for most other mail products are also expected to rise. According to industry sources, a corresponding application will soon be submitted to the Federal Network Agency. Because Swiss Post has hardly any competition, it needs approval from the Bonn Market Authority for price changes.

Helmut Bünder

Business correspondent in Dusseldorf.

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A company spokesman kept a low profile. He merely referred to statements by the new Chairman of the Board of Management, Tobias Meyer, who had indicated in the interim balance sheet at the beginning of May that Swiss Post would examine the chances of an early postage increase. A spokesman for the network agency said that the authority had not received a corresponding application.

The network agency had last set the price range at the beginning of 2022, allowing an increase in price from 80 to 85 cents for the standard letter. Actually, the prices are valid until the end of next year. But Swiss Post has long criticized the fact that the inflation rate is now much higher than assumed in the permit. At that time, the network agency had assumed an inflation rate of only 1.5 percent per year. Labor costs will also rise much faster than expected due to the high level of collective bargaining this spring. In addition, fewer letters are sent from year to year, so that the average costs are continuously increasing anyway.

Hurdles "not low"

The Postal Act permits an early postage increase if the basic assumptions for price approval have changed significantly. However, the hurdles for this were "not low," Meyer said. But Swiss Post is under so much pressure in its traditional German business with letters and parcels that it now wants to give it a try anyway. In the first quarter, the division's operating profit shrank by 61 percent to just 138 million euros. The new collective agreement alone resulted in additional costs of 115 million euros.

According to Swiss Post, the letter price in Germany is now 40 percent below the European average despite higher labor costs. In order to be able to maintain a smooth letter dispatch everywhere in Germany (universal service), the group needs more financial leeway. At the same time, Swiss Post is insisting on relaxing the expensive requirements for the universal service. The upcoming reform of the Postal Act offers opportunities for this. Among other things, there is talk of extending letter delivery times. While 80 percent of all shipments have to reach the recipient within one day, there could also be a somewhat slower but cheaper "B-Mail" in the future.

Swiss Post is only allowed to freely set the letter prices for large mail-order companies such as banks, insurance companies, public authorities and companies. There it grants discounts of up to 50 percent on the usual prices. For these business customers, it had already decided on an increase in March: At the beginning of July, wholesale prices will go up by 6 percent because the volume discounts will be reduced.