Deutsche Post hikes parcel prices for more businesses

BERLIN (Reuters) - Deutsche Post DHL <DPWGn.DE> will hike parcel prices next year for business customers with individually agreed conditions due to rises in transport and labour costs, the German logistics group said on Thursday.

The partly state-owned company hit business customers who pay list prices with higher rates earlier this year, helping it to lift guidance for full-year operating profit.

A spokeswoman said the latest price increase applied to customers that make at least 3,000 shipments a year. She declined to give precise details, noting prices were agreed individually with such customers.

Deutsche Post DHL announced in March it would invest an extra 150 million euros (132.89 million pounds) a year in staff, automation and infrastructure as it seeks to keep pace with rising parcel volumes due to booming ecommerce.

The company said the price increase was also due to an expansion of road tolls on trucks, which it will pass on to these customers as a surcharge of 0.10 euros per parcel.

Finance Chief Melanie Kreis has said she is not concerned that price rises will drive away ecommerce giants like Zalando <ZALG.DE> or Amazon <AMZN.O>, noting that competitors face similar cost pressures due to a shortage of drivers.

(Reporting by Emma Thomasson; Editing by Mark Potter)