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TNT
Express Worldwide (Phils.) Inc., the struggling local
unit of the Netherlands-based international courier,
will continue to invest in the country despite having
incurred successive years of losses.
Cetin
Yalcin, the company’s new country general manager said a
“considerable amount” of the €100 million ($154.24
million) earmarked for Southeast Asia during the next
five years will go to the
Philippines.
Yalcin
declined to state a definite number, saying they would
study the figures as they go along.
This
year TNT plans to expand from four branches in the
Philippines to six, he said. The company also wants to
boost its agents across the country from the present 16.
TNT’s
growth contributors mainly come from the electronics
sector and other high-value products. Earlier the
company said it hopes to tap into companies that have
special needs, such as those in the pharmaceutical
business.
Yalcin
said the Philippine unit, which has 75 vehicles of
varying sizes, would remain a niche player and mainly
service import and export firms.
Yalcin
was plucked from
Turkey
to head the Philippine operations following the
resignation last September of his predecessor Jose Luis
Romero-Salas. His responsibility is to make the local
operations profitable after successive years of losses
and increase its revenue base.
Documents from the Securities and Exchange Commission
show that TNT’s local unit has incurred hundreds of
millions in losses since 2003. In 2004 its losses
totaled P98.16 million, P132.02 million in 2005 and
P144.53 million in 2006.
TNT’s
2006 auditor Isla Lipana and Co. had issued a caveat
about the company’s ability to continue operations after
incurring an accumulated deficit of P1.08 billion over
the years.
TNT
Philippines is 40-percent owned by TNT Express Worldwide
N.V. and the rest by private Filipino owners, led by
company chairman Elpidio G. Navarro.
“As in
the previous years, the parent company has committed to
provide operating and financial support to the company
to enable it to continue,” the audit firm said in its
report.
It added
that to improve the situation, TNT is pursuing various
initiatives such as capital restructuring, conversion of
debt to equity and interest moratorium on outstanding
advances from its parent company.
Yalcin
said it’s “unfair” to call it losses for the company
since most of its transactions are in dollar rates and
their finances are affected by the peso’s previous
gains.
“It’s
not a performance issue, but a foreign-exchange issue.
We are contributing to [TNT’s worldwide] volume,” he
said, adding the ideal exchange rate for the company is
P45-$1 to turn a profit.
The
company boasts of an integrated air and road networks,
mostly in Asia and Europe. In the region, it has an Asia
Road Network, but the
Philippines
may not be included in the system due to the
archipelagic nature of the country.
TNT is
capable of moving freight between major cities in
Southeast Asia to China with an average transit time of
48 hours. To Europe, the company offers transit times as
short as 24 hours. |
