Dr Frank Appel

Chief Executive Officer
Deutsche Post AG

29 April 2009
First quarter of 2009

In the first three months of the new year, volumes continued to decline in all products and across all divisions compared with the fourth quarter of 2008. For this reason, we are all taking precautions to prepare for a sustained difficult economic environment.

We are therefore working on our operating costs, and we will lower our indirect costs by at least €1 billion by the end of 2010. Through our Roadmap to Value initiatives, we made encouraging progress in these areas during the reporting period.

The restructuring measures in the US express business are proceeding according to plan. We have not offered any domestic products in the US since February. We have also reached a clear decision with regard to our remaining transports of international express shipments within North America: Negotiations with UPS have been terminated. We will co-operate for the foreseeable future with two other air freight carriers, ABX Air and ASTAR Air Cargo.

Although first-quarter earnings were not outstanding, given the circumstances we consider them satisfactory. Moreover, shipment rates stabilised in March, suggesting that the decline could be close to bottoming out.

Our financial position is extremely good, thanks in part to the sale of Postbank. Consolidated net profit reached nearly €1 billion in the first quarter – a marked improvement on the prior-year period. This was largely due to the positive impact that the market valuation of the put options on Postbank shares had on our net financial income.

I am certain that Deutsche Post DHL will not only safely navigate the economic crisis, but emerge from it stronger than before. We have done our homework and set a new strategic course. Together with the new management team, I plan to implement Strategy 2015: We want to remain Die Post für Deutschland (The Postal Service for Germany) and become The Logistics Company for the World.

In the mail business, we set the standard in quality, above all in Germany. Our task is to strive to maintain our strong position in a shrinking market. The logistics industry is and will remain a growth sector in which we have outstanding prospects once the current economic crisis has been overcome.

Yours faithfully,