India Post/USPS – a comparison on how they fare in this recession/operational metrics

The exterior of an India Post office

Update: 8th September 2009

Today’s papers carried the news of Accenture being awarded the contract to operationalize and install a single software in all branches of India Post. India Post also says they have 9000 vacancies that would be filled by youngsters. Furthermore, India Post’s GPO at Bangalore has a brand new look and they have almost 4 planes catering to their needs.

Let’s see the net effect this would have on the financial equation of India Post this time next year when we do the revenue-cost analysis again.

http://ecofin.wordpress.com/2007/08/23/deutsche-post-to-tie-up-with-india-post/

http://ecofin.wordpress.com/2007/06/11/india-post-the-road-to-recovery-2http://ecofin.wordpress.com/2007/08/23/deutsche-post-to-tie-up-with-india-post/

http://ecofin.wordpress.com/2007/06/11/india-post-the-road-to-recovery-2/

I had written about this some years back on the road to recovery for the India Post and the efforts they are making in creating a new brand image. I had also written on how they compare with their US counterpart – the USPS. Coincidentally, I read up an article on the progress made by the USPS recently and even they are ailing due to the current economic recession in the US and are set to post a whopping $ 7 billion loss for the fiscal year.

Source: http://www.indiapost.gov.in/Report/Annual_Report_2008-2009.pdf

Source: http://www.usps.com/

IIFT EMIB

IIFT EMIB 2004 - 2006 (Source: http://www.iift.edu)

It’s been exactly five long years since I joined for my EMIB (Executive Masters in International business) from the prestigious Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), New Delhi! I joined it on 9th August 2004. Time flies! But can say for sure that this degree has been my best investment made on education till date. With zero opportunity cost (it was held only on weekends – non stop for one and a half years) and the schedule was honestly grueling with no respite and kept us busy on weekdays with assignments, quizzes every weekend, mid-term exams, classes and of course, the end terms.

Comparison of revenue per employee/IT products versus IT services

Take two top companies in their respective sectors:

For a change, for IT products, we don’t choose Microsoft but choose Apple Inc. for IT products. As expected, we choose India’s media IT service darling company, Infosys Technologies Ltd for IT services. Let’s see how they compare on this one metric.

I voted, did you vote?

There is no point criticizing the Government, the public offices, the institutions, the politicians etc. if you don’t exercise your fundamental right and cast your vote. So, get up and vote – for a change. Let’s make India a better place to live in!

Economic recession and a pandemic – correlation

It appears this correlation appears to be quite high. The last economic crisis hit in 2001 with the dot com and telecom bubble burst and that was instantly followed by 9/11 and then the SARS crisis in South East Asia and the Anthrax cases in USA.

Votonomics

The Indian general elections -First off, please VOTE, Second, Vote for a change

I got my new voter id card (I had an old one issued in 2005 as well) yesterday. The process is quick and painless but the queue isn’t. I had to make my way through a long serpantine queue for almost 3 hours – thankfully, the saving grace was the sun had set and this made it bearable to stand in the cool of the summer night.

On a side note, what makes this election special from a Voting economic perspective?

Economics of a Tata Nano

The Tata Nano logo

Image credit/source: The Tata Nano website (http://tatanano.inservices.tatamotors.com/tatamotors/)

http://ecofin.wordpress.com/2009/03/24/the-tata-nano-launched-in-multiple-variants/

http://ecofin.wordpress.com/2008/01/10/specifications-of-the-tata-1-lac-car/

http://ecofin.wordpress.com/2008/01/10/the-tatas-1-lac-car-the-nano-officially-lauched/

Can they really achieve profitability or is it just an exercise for Tata Motors to say they did it first, build market share in the entry level segment (they have effectively created an A- segment in the entry level segment in automobiles in India!) and built the world’s cheapest car ever even if they don’t make any great profits as their margins would be wafer thin?

Should a recession affect your purchasing decision making?

Is the reduction in purchasing decisions/actual purchases made a good thing or a bad thing during recessionary times. While technically, India is still motoring along at over 5.5% GDP growth and is tipped to be the 2nd fastest growing economy in the world for 2009 (a miserable year for other world economies), should the discerning consumer cut down on his purchases of items?

Berkshire Hathaway Annual report 2008 / a must read

http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/2008ar/2008ar.pdf

You can’t be mistaken when you are reading from the greatest punters in the Financial space – Warren Buffett. The Chairman’s letter to shareholders did not dissappoint me. It was filled with the usual interesting titbits on his insurance ops and business, the concept of insurance ‘float’, his profit margins, the stake he took in Goldman Sachs, GE etc. during the troubling cashflow starved times of late 2008, the usual caveats on on the derivatives business and the future of Berkshire! Oh btw – there was no mention of “fruit of the loom” as marketwatch said there would be!

As I have said many times before, I am a self proclaimed protege of Warren Buffett and anything he does interests me. His annual reports are always looked forward to by much ado and this time was especially different to get the views of the man who I consider is king in stock market investing alongwith with his mentor Ben Graham and associate, Charlie Munger.

Has the retail bubble in India burst?

I had blogged about retail opportunities in India about an year and a half ago here - http://ecofin.wordpress.com/2007/07/25/retail-opportunities-in-india/

It was not even an year ago that we witnessed almost every large corporate worth their salt open up stores in the name of “retail” looking for every opportunity to outwit and throw out your neighbourhood “kirana store”.

But, less than an year later, they have a sad story to tell.