BERLIN (Thomson Financial) - The PIN Group, a private postal services company which will announce layoffs of more than 1,000 of its 9,000 employees, could go bankrupt, German weeklies Focus and Der Spiegel reported in editions due out Monday.
Axel Springer AG, Europe's biggest newspaper publisher and 65 pct owner of the group, envisages 'stopping PIN payments, if necessary,' reported Der Spiegel, citing sources close to Axel Springer.
Springer lawyers, who met last week, gave an extension to the company to help keep it afloat, which needs 10 mln eur, according to Der Spiegel.
But Focus reported that 'the most probable hypothesis' coming from the meeting will be 'stopping payment' for PIN.
PIN chief Guenter Thiel, interviewed by Focus, did not exclude being let go by the Springer group.
'Currently, all the options are certainly being studied by our majority shareholders,' he said.
PIN Group is the second largest postal service in Germany after semi-public Deutsche Post AG. tf.TFN-Europe_newsdesk@thomson.com vs COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2007. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.