TWO of TNT Express's minority shareholders, Canada's Alberta Investment Management (Aimco) and US hedge fund Jana Partners, which each holds five per cent of the group, have called for the departure of CEO Marie-Christine Lombard.

    They point to TNT's poor results and describe the strategy put in place by management as inadequate, reports London's International Freighting Weekly. Since June the operation has been split into two enterprises: TNT Express and Post NL.

    TNT Express also announced the sale of its domestic road operations in India to a logistics subsidiary of India Equity Partners (IEP) to take effect on December 30, reported the UK's Transport Intelligence. The company will continue to offer inbound and outbound India services as before.

    TNT's domestic road senior management and its 1,000 employees will move to the new employer. On-the-ground facilities, IT and systems and processes will be supported by TNT Express during the transition process.

    Said Aimco representative Het Fnancieele: "We have spoken of a change in the leadership of the executive board of TNT Express."

    "Hit by the slowdown in world trade", the company has already revised downwards its results outlook for the current financial year. "In addition to mediocre performances in Europe and in Asia, the group also faces operational difficulties in Brazil," the report said.

    Furthermore, the company's shares have lost almost half their value since Mr Lombard took over in May.

    Said a TNT Express spokesman: "Everyone is entitled to their opinion and we admit that we have made mistakes in Brazil. But we are putting solutions in place and have set the objective of our activities in Brazil returning to break-even in the second half of 2012, and in 2013 for our Chinese subsidiaries."

    Aimco and Jana have also demanded a reshuffle in parent TNT's supervisory board, claiming that half of its members are from the former TNT Post postal division and are hindering decision-making at TNT Express, the report said.

    It said that the "disquiet among the minority shareholders" comes at a time when the 29.9 per cent stake held by Post NL in TNT Express is no longer protected by a "lock-up" procedure, prohibiting it from being opened up to the market.

    "However, given the slide in TNT's shares, there is little prospect at the moment of the stake being put up for sale," the report added.

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