LONDON--French competition authorities are investigating
delivery companies Royal Mail PLC, TNT Express NV and FedEx Corp.
over allegations they breached antitrust laws in the parcel market,
which could lead to material fines.
Royal Mail, the recently-privatized U.K. postal operator, and
TNT Express, of the Netherlands, both confirmed the probe
Wednesday, while U.S.-based FedEx disclosed the investigation on
Monday. All three companies warned that the investigation could
result in a material loss.
A spokesman for the French competition authority, the Authorité
de la Concurrence, confirmed the agency was undertaking a probe
into parcel delivery services but declined to identify the
companies or the practices being examined.
At 10:04 GMT shares in Royal Mail traded down 0.4%, while TNT
Express dropped 2.4%.
Royal Mail said the allegations related to its GLS France
subsidiary, adding that it was too early to "determine the amount
or range of potential loss, however, it is possible that it could
be material."
TNT said "it cannot be excluded that TNT Express will be fined
for a material amount as a result of this procedure," adding that
it had been cooperating with the French competition authority since
it began its investigation in 2010.
In a regulatory filing Monday, FedEx said the probe related to
alleged actions at trade-association meetings of former general
managers at its Tatex division, before the company bought the
business in 2012.
FedEx said it was too early to calculate the potential loss, but
said "it is reasonably possible that it could be material."
Analysts at Espirito Santo said the impact of the probe could be
worse for TNT than for Royal Mail because GLS--the Royal Mail unit
under investigation--has just a 5.6% share of the French market,
compared with TNT's 19.6% share.
William Horobin and Maria Armental contributed to this
article.
Write to Ed Ballard at ed.ballard@wsj.com
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