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The acquisition of a stake of insurance group Generali in the Portuguese postal services group agreed in 2022 is now set to be implemented (CEP News 46/22). According to information provided by business newspaper »Jornal Economico«, the regulatory authorities have now given the green light to the transaction.

This means that Generali Seguros will subscribe to a 25mn euros capital increase of Banco CTT, equivalent to 8.71 per cent. At the same time as the acquisition, it has signed an agreement for the distribution of insurance products. In return, the Portuguese postal services group will receive 10mn euros annually in the first 6 years of the agreement, together with performance-linked commission payments if applicable. In addition, Pedro Carvalho, CEO of the insurance group, will join the board of Banco CTT as a non-executive member.

Help for visitors to the Great Wall of China who suddenly want something to eat or drink. The Meituan delivery service announced last week that it can deliver food and drinks as well as medical supplies from a nearby hotel within five minutes.

According to »CNN«, a drone flies with the ordered goods from the roof of a nearby hotel to one of the watchtowers on the Great Wall of China, where customers can collect their order. The delivery fee is 56 US cents, which is the same as Meituan's regular delivery price by road, according to the local news portal »Beijing Youth Daily«.

Booming profits at JD Logistics in the second quarter of the current financial year. According to the information published last week, pre-tax profits of 315.4m euros were generated on revenues of more than 5.6bn euros (up 7.7 %); in the same quarter of the previous year, the group had reported earnings of just over 80m euros. Overall, this was the best quarter since the IPO in June 2021.

As JDL had already broken even in the first quarter (CEP News 21/24), the stock market reacted euphorically; after the publication on Thursday of the quarterly figures, which can be viewed here, the share gained 28 per cent on the Hong Kong stock exchange as of Monday of this week. «EUR 1 = CNY 7.88»

As a result of a shortage of courier drivers, online shoppers on the Isle of Skye in Scotland who receive their parcels via Evri currently have to drive up to 80 kilometres there and back to collect their parcels themselves. Evri has apologised to customers, explaining that a subcontractor has ceased operations 'for personal reasons'. Consequently, even parcels that are to be delivered to the front door are being redirected to parcel shops and post offices.