In September, Deutsche Post AG resolved to sell a 29.75% minority stake in the Deutsche Postbank Group to Deutsche Bank AG. Further details can be found in Note 10.

On 1 July 2008, the European Court of First Instance in Luxembourg annulled the European Commission’s state aid ruling of 2002. At the time, the Commission had ordered Deutsche Post AG to repay purported state aid and interest amounting to €907 million to the Federal Republic of Germany. The Commission had ruled that, between 1994 and 1998, Deutsche Post AG misused state aid intended to finance the universal service as a cross-subsidy to cover its costs in the competitive market segment where it carries parcels for business customers. Deutsche Post AG appealed against the ruling in the same year. In August 2008, Deutsche Post AG received €1,067 million back from the German federal government on the basis of this ruling.

The sale of Deutsche Post AG real estate to US investor Lone Star took economic effect on 1 July 2008. This real estate comprised around 1,300 properties located mainly in Germany. An initial payment of €250 million was made towards the purchase price in June 2008. The remainder of the purchase price is expected to be paid by the end of 2008. Deutsche Post World Net will lease back the majority of the properties under operating leases. In the course of the period, the properties were reported as assets held for sale. The impairment losses of €28 million arising from their measurement under IFRS 5 were reported under other operating expenses.

On 28 May 2008, the Supervisory Board and Board of Management of Deutsche Post World Net approved an extensive restructuring programme for the DHL express business in the USA. By the end of the reporting period, expenses of €86 million had been recognised from the planned restructuring intentions. Further explanations can be found in Note 11.

In the period ended 30 September 2008, impairment losses of €31 million were recognised on the non-current assets of the American express business.

IT Services in Germany intends to consolidate its activities and employees at two locations. The other nine locations are to be closed. The purpose of consolidating the IT unit is both substantial proximity to the customer as well as increased productivity and efficiency. The restructuring provision was €21 million as at 30 September 2008.

The following table gives an overview of the significant non-recurring effects on the income statement: