Berlin  - Germany's postal delivery company Deutsche Post has been hit by losses of 1.69 billion euros (2.16 billion dollars) for 2008, the company reported Wednesday.

This is the first time the company has posted an overall loss since the privatisation of Germany's postal industry in 1995.

The high losses were largely a result of the company's loss-making US business arm, as well as deficits at the company's Postbank subsidiary.

The board of management has turned down any bonus payments for 2008, Deutsche Post spokeswoman Silje Skogstad said.

Shareholders are nevertheless to receive a reduced dividend of 0.6 euros per share for 2008, compared to a 0.9-euro dividend the year before.

In the fourth quarter of 2008, earnings before tax and interest (EBIT), cleared of one-off charges, stood at 765 million euros.

For the same period in 2007, this figure stood at 1.044 billion euros.

Bottom-line earnings fell from plus 253 million euros in the previous year, to minus 3.16 billion euros in 2008.

Turnover from October to the end of December shrank, from 14.5 billion euros in 2007, to 14.02 billion euros last year.

Given the disappointing results for 2008 and the difficult economic environment at present, the board of Deutsche Post is presently not giving estimates for 2009.

"We assume that the year 2009 will be very tough for the entire logistics industry," the Head of Deutsche Post Frank Appel said.

Appel is developing a new strategy to reorganise his business. By the end of 2010, savings of at least a billion euros are being anticipated.

The head of Deutsche Post's Express division, John Mullen, is unexpectedly stepping down. Mullen, who is 53, had been working in the corporation since 1994. He is due to be replaced by Ken Allen.

The Express arm of the business, which deals with urgent deliveries, had been fighting with negative returns in recent years.

In the US, the division had multi-million-euro deficits. (dpa)