FRANCOTYP-POSTALIA RECEIVES APPROVAL IN FRANCE

 Francotyp-Postalia GmbH, a subsidiary of Francotyp-Postalia Holding AG, has received approval from the French postal service La Poste for the mymail, a franking machine for low mail volumes.

The FP-Group can thus launch franking machines in the largest European franking machine market. In line with the legal regulations, franking machines in France may only be leased. The Management Board is therefore not expecting any large effect on revenue and earnings in 2011, since leasing is successful on the basis of recurring income and on a medium and long term basis.

Consolidation of worldwide position

The FP Group is benefitting from a streamlined approval procedure by the French postal service and in this way achieved a swift approval for the franking machine. With approx. 230,000 franking machines installed, France is the largest market in Europe. Like the American market, this is exclusively a rental market. “In the coming year, we will expand our sales in France, so that we can structure our market launch successfully,” commented Andreas Drechsler from the FP Management Board. „As in other countries, our top priority is to provide excellent service to convince French customers of the benefits of long-term cooperation.”

In France, the FP Group will also concentrate on the small and medium-sized machine segment. While in the area of large mail volumes, digital solutions are being used increasingly, the market for smaller mail volumes is stable. “With the market entry in France, we want to consolidate our worldwide position in the traditional franking business,” Drechsler continued.

The mymail is the smallest franking system in the FP Group’s product range. The outstanding feature of the machine is a very simple operation. It can be reloaded via an internet connection, and prints advertising motifs and individually programmable text messages on an envelope. Integrated scales automatically find the right postage.